Rhondagenesis II
by Kryten
Summary: Chapter 12! Lila's reborn... and someone's out to make it a very short life!
1. The Obligatory Recap

RHONDAGENESIS II

Chapter 1: The Obligatory Recap

_Dear Diary:_

_Today, for some bizarre reason, I feel compelled to sum up what's been going on in my life since then, and what my family and friends are up to._

_Right now, I'm a senior at Dino Spumoni Memorial High. I'm fairly popular, I pull down respectable grades, I'm on the cheerleading squad... pretty much the picture of a normal life, right?_

_Kinda__ hard to believe that, six years ago, I saved the entire world from total destruction._

_Let's back up here._

_When I was born, a bunch of monks, with some help from aliens, put some sort of spell on me. At age 18 I would be transformed into a half-angelic, half-demonic being of incredible power in order to combat a great evil that was brewing. Unfortunately, evil got a head-start, so I wound up transforming at the tender age of ten years old. The good news? I had super-powers. LOADS of super-powers. Strength, invulnerability, flying, energy blasts, forcefields, telepathy, telekinesis, molecular restructuring, teleportation, the works._

_The bad news?__ As part of the package, I also wound up with a complete body makeover. My skin turned purple, I grew fangs and claws, my ears got pointy, and I developed big feathery wings, a long tail with a poisonous stinger at the end, and a third eye in the middle of my forehead. It was a wonder I didn't go completely insane that first week. Luckily, I had the support of my family and a very accomplished team of genetic experts to help me cope. And when the monks finally contacted me and told me what had really happened to me, it all sort of clicked together. At that point, I stopped being a freak and started being a superhero._

_Anyway, after loads of adventures, and after killing the President of the __United States__ (it's okay, he was a monster at the time), I finally faced the Big Bad himself, the Dark One. And may I say, I totally kicked his ass. Of course, I nearly died myself, but the world was safe. And when I woke up again... I was back to being perfectly normal in every way. And life went on._

_So now, here I am, almost 17, mere months away from graduation (okay, so it's nine months, but they're months, right?). I'm between boyfriends at the moment. I caught Sid totally cheating on me, and well, that was that._

_So, what's going on? Well, my dad's pretty much doing what he always did. I'm not really sure what it is. Something about "dabbling in international finance". What does that mean, anyway? Well, it must be good, because nobody's sliced up my credit cards yet. My mom sold the gallery about three years back, when she got pregnant again. A few months later, she gave birth to my little sister Rhiannon. Rhia for short. She's absolutely adorable._

_Moving on to friends, let's see..._

_Nadine Harris is still the best friend anyone could ever hope for. She's been there for me to help me through tough times, and I was there for her when she made the decision to come out. She took major flack for that, and our social standing tanked for a while, but eventually, people realized that she was still Nadine, not just "gay Nadine". Besides, who cares what some guy wrote in a book thousands of years ago?_

_Helga Pataki and Arnold Craig.__ They're practically inseparable, which is weird when you consider that they're still polar opposites, personality-wise. He's still the earnest do-gooder with his head in the clouds, she's still every bit as cynical and sarcastic as she ever was. And yet, somehow, they make it work._

_Gerald Johanssen's the smooth operator, the playa, the fast-talker. He's gone out with just about every girl in school at some point. Including me, I must admit. And somehow, they keep coming back for more._

_One girl who didn't was Phoebe Heyerdahl. She decided that she'd had enough of pining for someone who couldn't commit. Lately, she's been trying to shed her bookworm image, find something new... she's tried cheerleading, she's tried being a "bad girl", she's even been considering going Nadine's route and abandoning the opposite sex altogether. Most recently, she's been flirting with going Goth. Chew on that mental image for a while._

_Harold Berman has finally put his bulk to good advantage, as the captain of DSMH's championship wrestling team. He's been single ever since Patty Smith went off to Yale, as the first woman ever to receive a football scholarship._

_Stinky Petersen... you'd barely recognize him these days. He's gone totally preppie. He's class president, a straight-A student, and is on the fast track to valedictorian. Hey, who knew?_

_Sheena Kaczynski hasn't changed... she's still a total hippie, a vegan (and occasionally obnoxious about it), and always involved in some cause or another. She's still involved with Eugene Horowitz, who it turns out is NOT gay like everyone thought, just really into musical theatre. See? Stereotypes are dumb._

_Sid's a pig. Screw him._

_Curly Gammelthorpe moved to Dimmsdale in the middle of sixth grade. Nobody's heard from him in years. Which is just fine with me. I could definitely do without being stalked._

_Finally, last and least, Lila Sawyer. Lila lost her ever-so-sweet persona years ago, and she's become the shallow, superficial Queen Bitch that... well, that I probably would've become if not for my fifth-grade adventures. And she's a total slut, too... she seems to take special joy in stealing other girls' boyfriends. As you probably guessed, that includes Sid._

_So, that's where things stand right now. This concludes the annual State of the Rhonda Address. We now return you to your regularly scheduled diary._

_

* * *

_

_Author's note: So, here we go again. Unlike the first series, this one doesn't have an overarcing storyline; it's more of an episodic series, though I will be at least trying to have some continuing subplots. I also have some nice surprises in store for later chapters, including a very special crossover that some of you out there might like._

_So, as always, let's see some reviews, comments, criticism, suggestions, anything. We fanfic writers thrive on feedback._


	2. Resurgence

_

* * *

Authors' note: I forgot to mention last time that I do not own the Hey Arnold! Universe or any of its characters. I'm just playing in Craig Bartlett's sandbox here._

_A few shout-outs:_

_Number6: Thanks for your continued support! Don't sweat your English, it's probably a lot better than I'd sound in your native language. As for why there's no mention of Brainy, it's because Rhonda's barely aware he exists. They never, ever interact, so he never crosses her mind. Rest assured, Brainy's still lurking about somewhere. As for what's coming... well, I want that to be a surprise._

_HunGuy: We'll be seeing lots more of the PS118—excuse me, the Dino Spumoni Memorial High crew._

_Demile: I'm glad you liked my first Rhonda story. I think you'll like what I have in store for the second._

* * *

RHONDAGENESIS II

Chapter 2: Resurgence

BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP

Rhonda rolled out of bed, cursing the inventor of that annoying noise that all alarm-clock manufacturers seemed to like. Why couldn't they replace it with something you'd actually want to wake up to, like, say, Chip Skylark whispering sweet nothings in your ear...

Oh well... it was off to another day at school. Rhonda hurriedly showered, dressed (a red baby tee and black jeans, and her favorite Caprini go-go boots), did her hair and makeup, and ran downstairs to grab something to eat before running to catch the bus to school (she had the feeling that her Sweet Seventeen would bring a new car with it, but until then she was still at the mercy of Hillwood's mass transit system).

_You wouldn't be if you could still fly, _a thought bubbled up.

_Yeah... because I really want to be a freak again, _Rhonda's common sense asserted. _Senior year would be way better hiding in my room taking classes via webcam. Get real._

She was almost out the door when she felt something latch on to her ankle. "Don't go!" it whined.

Rhonda sighed and carefully pried her sister off her leg. "We've been over this, Rhia. I'm just going to school. I'll be back later. Same as every other day. Okay?

"But you said we could play today!" she wailed. "And you promised you'd tell the dragon story again!"

"I will. Tonight. I promise." She gave her sister a kiss on the forehead and rushed off for the bus.

* * *

"Rhonda!" Nadine waved from the seat she had saved for the two of them. Rhonda slid in next to her best friend. Nadine had long ago abandoned the "spider braids" she used to wear for a sensible cornrow style. Today, she wore a blue T-shirt, a short black skirt, and sneakers.

Rhonda mused on their friendship. Nadine had always been like the sister shed never had (before she actually HAD a sister, anyway). The two had shared very few interests, but somehow managed to remain close even to this day. The trick was, they were always there for each other. Even during the worst times... Nadine had been the first to stand by her during her days as Genesis, and Rhonda had been there to provide moral support for Nadine when she told her parents she was gay.

As the bus moved on, the two got to talking about the usual stuff. The topic du jour was Rhonda's recent breakup.

"I can't believe he was going out _behind my back _with that... that... I'm sickened just thinking about it!"

"See... this is why I stick to girls. And bugs." Nadine fished around in her backpack for a jar. "Check it out. It's a Japanese Stag Beetle."

"Didn't you show that to me already?"

"No," Nadine said with the weary look of someone who had expected better. "That was a _Korean _Stag Beetle. They're two completely different things!"

"Oh, who cares!" Rhonda cried out. "How can I trash Sid and Lila when you keep changing the subject?"

"You've _been _trashing Sid and Lila for a week now. I'm your best friend and all, but it's really starting to get old."

"Nadine, the accepted period for trashing your ex-boyfriend and the vapid tramp he's cheating with is a full two weeks. I've got six days left."

"Fine... but you go one day over that, and I break out _the pictures._"

"You... you wouldn't dare."

"You know I would."

Their voices dropped to a whisper. "I can't believe I let you drag me to circus camp two summers ago."

"You were gonna have to get over your fears sooner or later. Besides... you DID end up having fun. Admit it."

"Never."

"You did, and you know it. Just like you've enjoyed all those _anime_ movies I dragged you to."

"I didn't like _Ghost in the Shell II_."

"Yeah, but NO ONE liked that. The fact is, you always complain when I make you do something new, and you wind up enjoying yourself in spite of it. Where would you be without me?"

"Somewhere, I'm s- speak of the she-devil."

Lila was boarding the bus now. At one time, the sweetest girl in class, the years had twisted her into a cold, manipulative she-bitch. No one had figured out exactly when the change had occurred, but some thought it could be traced back to the moment Arnold and Helga had gotten together. On some level, Lila had enjoyed his attention, and now that it was gone, something had changed within her.

Now, she strode down the aisle with a haughty smirk on her face. As she passed by Rhonda, she gave her a knowing wink.

Rhonda waited until she passed by and took her seat with her two latest sycophants (she rotated them on a regular basis to make sure they knew their popularity was entirely dependent on her; it didn't make much of a difference, though, since they were generally lacking in the personality department). "Did you see that?" she whispered to Nadine. "She's literally shoving it in my face!"

"Let it go, Rhonda... you're better than her."

"sigh You're right, Nadine. I shouldn't let her get to me. I should just ignore that vapid little bitch."

"That's the spirit," her friend replied.

* * *

The morning classes passed by unmemorably. At a quarter to one, Rhonda and Nadine took their seats at their favorite table; the others would soon arrive.

Helga was the first. The girl had long ago abandoned her pink dress for jeans and sweatshirts, and her bow now served to hold together her ponytail. She still wore almost no makeup, and frankly, didn't need it.

"S'up, Princess, Spidergirl..."

"Usual... Rhia's still sweet enough to give you cavities," Rhonda replied.

"Not much here... I reached 20,000 hits on my website, and that's pretty much it," Nadine volunteered.

"Well, my mom's planning something big. She's officially clean now for four years. She wants to throw a party for the occasion, but Bob thinks we should skip the party and use the anniversary as an excuse for a huge sale. Can you imagine that? 'Come on down to Pataki Electronics! In honor of my wife's fourth year of sobriety, half-off on all Wacko Margarita Machines!' Can't you just see him doing that?"

Rhonda giggled. "Yeah... when they were handing out sensitivity, your dad was probably busy sticking flyers in people's windshield wipers at the impound lot."

The next to arrive was Sheena. These days, she favored peasant dresses and sandals, and her hair was the same as ever. Today, she slid in next to Nadine, pulling her bagged lunch out. As she unwrapped it, the gathered teens stared at it, unsure of what they were looking at.

"Is that... grass on a bun?" queried Helga.

"It's called a 'turfwich'," replied Sheena, and it's a staple of the ultrarecyclo-vegetarian diet."

"Ew," Rhonda commented with a disgusted expression. "My cousin eats that garbage all the time. It's gross when she does it, and it's gross when you do it."

"It's not garbage!" objected Sheena. "It's 100 recyclable veg-"

"It's _garbage_," Nadine and Helga replied simultaneously.

"Like the cafeteria food's better?"

"At least it's not _grass and dirt._"

Helga tapped Rhonda on the sleeve. "Hey... look who's here."

"Oh, no she didn't," commented the dark-haired teen on the newest arrival.

"She _did_," Helga responded.

Phoebe, clad in a ripped grey tank-top, a black leather skirt, fishnets, and army boots, and sporting multiple earrings and enough eyeliner to mace a raccoon nervous, slid in next to Helga.

"So," said the blonde, "you actually went and did it."

"Indeed I have, Helga. I've fully shed my bookish exterior and embraced my inner goth."

"Good for you," Nadine said approvingly. "It's great when you can finally express who you are inside."

"Well, well," came a cold, amused voice passing by the table. "It seems the 'freak table' has just gotten a little bit more freaky."

"Hey, take a good look, Lila," retorted Rhonda. "See, these are what the experts refer to as 'friends.' I know you don't really have any, so you might not recognize them... "

"Oh, cute, Lloyd. You know, I've always liked your sense of humor. So does Sid. He told me in between putting our tongues down each others' throats."

_She's not worth it, she's not worth it, she's not worth it..._

"Don't you have other people's days to ruin?" asked Helga of the redhead.

"No... just yours." Her smug expression was unchanged. "I mean, where else can I find such a collection of losers? We've got a hippie who eats grassburgers... we've got Beatnik Poet Girl... we've got the World's Nerdiest Goth..."

_Just ignore her, she's a vapid little nothing who'll be barefoot and pregnant within a month of graduation..._

"And there's the homo. Well, I guess that'll be convenient for you in case you never get a boyfriend. I guess you've still got a free ride back he-"

Rhonda's were around Lila's throat before anyone could act. "What did you just call her? C'mon! Say it!" Her blood felt like it was starting to boil. "Well? Got something to say to me, bitch?"

Lila's only response was a wordless, terrified gasp. Still angered, Rhonda shook her even harder. "Answer me!"

"Rhonda, let her go. This is stupid." Nadine tried to pry Rhonda's hands off. "Really... this just isn't like you. Maybe you should go get a—" She trailed off as she got a look at Rhonda's face.

Finally calming down now, Rhonda dropped the intimidated Lila and turned toward Nadine. "What's the matter?"

"I think you should find a mirror, Rhonda."

"Mirror? What are you talking about?" She took out her compact and took a look.

The eyes that stared back were green, with catlike pupils.

"Oh, no..."

It was starting again.

_Next: "Metamorphosis"_


	3. Metamorphosis

_Author's Note: Well, the story's finally getting started for real now!_

_Demile: You'll find out the answer to that question this chapter. :-P_

_Number6: Curly will be showing up eventually, rest assured. As for Lila, all is not as it appears, as you'll soon see._

Rhondagenesis II

Chapter 3: Metamorphosis

_I have to get out of here._

And she had to do it soon. Her eyelids were already beginning to turn purple, and her canine teeth were getting longer and sharper.

She looked around. Most of the students were engrossed in what they were doing and either hadn't noticed her outburst, or hated Lila so much that they chose to ignore it. For her part, Lila had bolted from the cafeteria as soon as Rhonda had let her go. She wondered if Lila was gone permanently. No such luck, probably.

Trying not to draw attention to herself, Rhonda hurried for the door. Once in the hall, she made a beeline for the ladies' room. Once there, she could slip out the window.

Upon getting to the ladies' room, Rhonda checked herself again. Purple was spreading across her face more quickly now, and was visible on her arms as well. Her fourth and fifth fingers on each hand were beginning to fuse together, and the nails were turning black. Her ears were growing longer and pointier. And that was just outside. Inside, she could feel her muscles becoming denser, her bones hardening, her organs shifting, splitting, and merging... the curious thing was, none of it hurt at all.

Making sure no one was watching, she forced open the window and wriggled out, dropping down into the alley out back.

From here, there was no turning back. There was only one place she could go...

* * *

On the other side of the school, Lila was running in terror... or so she wanted everyone to believe.

As soon as she was well clear of everyone, she ducked into another ladies' room ad pulled out her own compact. The mirror slid open, revealing controls and a tiny screen.

"This is Agent Zezzarra," she spoke into the device. "I have most urgent news."

"Report," came the response.

"The one you sent me to keep watch over is reverting to her super-normal state. She could prove a hindrance to our plans."

"You have not been drawing attention to yourself, have you?"

"No, sir. I have simply been maintaining my disguise as one of the subject's human acquaintances." The less they knew, the better. The truth was, Zezzarra found herself enjoying her role as a human teenager, more than she should. Especially playing the "bad girl" to the hilt. Her studies of Earth TV high-school dramas had been excellent preparation for the role.

"Very well. Continue to monitor the target, but maintain a low profile. You should be capable of screening out her telepathic abilities, but it is better to walk behind the _mok'zar _than in front of it."

"Aye, sir." Zezzarra closed the compact with a snap. Once again, she resumed the fiction that was Lila Sawyer.

It would be hard to give up this life when the time came, but for now she intended to enjoy it.

* * *

Lifting the manhole cover was like lifting a paper plate now. She'd forgotten how easy super-strength made things.

By now, her skin was purple all over, a more vivid shade of purple than it had been when she was ten. Her hands had fully changed over, as had her teeth. She kicked off her beloved Caprini boots as her feet began to shift, the ankles bending into an angled position, her ten toes fusing into six larger, thicker, clawed toes. She dropped down through the manhole, landing nimbly on her new feet.

A spur forced its way out from the base of her spine; it began to elongate into a long, flexible, barbed tail. There was a brief moment, of dizziness, followed by a drastic increase in her sense of sight as her third eye opened up.

_That should be it, _she thought. She was proven wrong when twin growths began to sprout from her back. Could it be? Were her wings, lost long ago in that final battle, truly growing back? The answer, clearly, was yes. She used her claws to cut holes in the back of her tee, allowing her to ease the proto-wings through and give them the room they needed to redevelop.

Grimly, she surveyed her new home. It was damp and filthy, and it smelled awful (even more so thanks to her superhuman sense of smell), but it was better than being shunned as a freak.

* * *

Elsewhere within the Hillwood sewer system, a short, pudgy, sallow-complexioned man sat. His throne was an abandoned toilet, his crown an old miners' hardhat, and his scepter a mildew-handled plunger. Once he'd had a name, but, like much of his life, it had long ago been forgotten; now he was known only as The Sewer King.

Now, the King sat surveying his kingdom. Standing, he addressed his loyal subjects as they skittered back and forth before him.

"Loyal citizens of the Grand Kingdom of Sewertopia, I come before you today to announce a grand undertaking! For too long, we have been forced to remain underground, denied our rightful place. But today... today, we shall take that which we are due! For today... today we claim the surface as our own!"

In his mind, his subjects gave him a standing ovation. In reality, they simply continued skittering around, being the rats they were.

Well... most of them were rats.

The rest had once BEEN rats, but time and the toxic runoff of humanity had transformed them into something else. They were still vaguely rodentlike, and weren't much more intelligent than run-of-the-mill rodents, they were much larger, stronger, and fiercer. And they were fiercely loyal to their ruler.

"Thank you, thank you! Now come... we march on the surface!"

* * *

After trudging through brackish water for an hour, a thought was occurring to Rhonda.

_Maybe I should've thought this through better..._

Well, it was too late now. She'd panicked, and now, she'd condemned herself to life in the sewers.

Her metamorphosis had been complete for a while now... she decided to risk a look at her face. She flipped her compact open and took a look.

And another one.

_For a freakish mutant... I actually look pretty hot._

It was kind of an odd thought, really... but looking at herself, she was finding it hard to think of herself as ugly. Really, except for the eyes, ears, teeth, and skin color, her face was the same as it had been, and her figure, even with the new additions, was still one that most girls would be jealous of.

_And do I really want to hide that in a sewer?_

Her decision was made. She'd go back to the surface and face the gawkers and their stares with the dignity of a Lloyd.

Just as soon as she found her way out of this maze of pipes...

* * *

Mayor Marty Green straightened his tie. Days like these, he really missed the simplicity of the butcher shop. Today was just one boring photo-op after another. Now, he had to drag himself across town to dedicate a statue of something. It was hard to keep track after a certain point. All he really needed to do, at any rate, was smile and look interested.

One limo ride (now there was something he didn't miss from his butcher days, mass transit) later, he stood in front of yet another one of those generic man-on-horseback statues that seem to constantly spring up everywhere.

Checking the speech his aide had prepared (butchers didn't get those, either), Mayor Green cleared his throat. "My fellow people of Hillwood... I hereby dedicate this statue of..." he checked his speech again, to make sure he had it right, "Col. Zachariah Hill, hero of the Revolution and founder of Hillwood."

There was polite applause from those gathered. _That'll do, _thought Marty. _It's not like it's even a particularly good statue. Now, tri-tip—there's a work of art. _

His work done for now, Marty headed back to the limo and got in. "Take me home, Murray. I think I'm done for the day.

"Oh, I gave Murray the day off," came an odd, high-pitched-yet-gravelly voice from the forward compartment. "Well... technically it's more of a concussion."

"What? Who are you?" sputtered a bewildered and annoyed mayor.

"The _true _ruler of the city." The locks snapped shut and the windows rolled up, seemingly of their own accord. Gas began to seep in through the AC vents.

As the mayor lost consciousness, he could've sworn he heard squeaking...

* * *

After yet another hour of fruitless wandering, Rhonda finally found a manhole to the surface. _Finally. I'm gonna need to shower for a week after this little romp, _the teen angel thought to herself.

She thrust herself upward, flipping the manhole cover aside. It was a tight squeeze with the wings, but she was able to pull herself out.

She took a look around... she was under an overpass near Vikstein Park. Her wandering had taken her clear across town.

She had just stepped out from under when a gangly figure nearly knocked her over. The man wore the bizarre combo of a white T-shirt, a green cape, and a pair of furry slippers. He had unkempt hurly brown hair, a nervous expression, and the letter M emblazoned on his shirt. It could be only one person...

Turning toward her, the urban vigilante known only as Monkeyman held out his hand. "I'm sorry, fair citizen, but there's evil af—"His jaw dropped. "Oh, my god... it's you. You're back. This is amazing. I'm so... it's great to meet you, a (monkeyman) honor."

"Likewise, Mr... Monkeyman, n'est-ce pas?" Rhonda shook his hand.

"Wow... I'm shaking hands with Genesis. Word in the superhero community said that you died six years ago, but I knew you had survived somehow, to carry on the (monkeyman) battle against the forces of evil."

"_Superhero community?" You ARE the superhero community. _"Yeah... reports of my death were exaggerated."

"Well, it's great that you're back! Now we can work together on the Mayor's kidnapping."

"Actually, I should rea—did you say kidnapping?"

"Yes, he's vanished completely. His driver was found unconscious and naked near the last place he was scene. It's a mystery what happened, a real (monkeyman) conundrum."

_Huh. Maybe there's a reason that my powers came back today, of all days. _

"Tell me everything you know so far, Monkeyman."

"Okay, sure. Wow, I'm swapping intel with another superhero! Wow, I'm using words like 'intel'! I feel so professional! By the way, where'd you get that tail? I've always (monkeyman) wanted a tail, it'd make me feel more like... well, a Monkeyman."

"I didn't get it anywhere, it's part of me. Now, come on, tell me what you know.

"Well, I remember there was a smell at the site of the disappearance. It smelled... it smelled a lot like you do right now."

"ExCUSE me? I do not-"she sniffed herself – "...well, okay, but I've been wandering the sewers for the last couple of hours."

_The sewers!_

_Whoever kidnapped the mayor must be from the sewers!_

"Thanks, you've given me what I needed!" Rhonda shouted as she sprinted back towards the sewers.

"Wait, Genesis! We didn't (monkeyman) exchange e-mail addresses!"

* * *

The mayor came to in a dark, dank, foul-smelling chamber.

'Icch... I feel like yesterday's tenderloin," he muttered.

"So good of you to join us," a voice, the same one he'd heard in the limo, spoke from the darkness.

"Wha...?" Marty squinted into the darkness.

A dumpy little man in a hardhat emerged from the shadows. He wore what looked like a pocketwatch around his neck, and carried a toilet plunger as if it were a royal scepter. "Allow me to introduce myself," the odd little man said. "I am Defecatus Rex... the Sewer King. And I have brought you here so that you may swear your loyalty to me as the new Lord of this city."

_This guy is a few ribs short of a roast, _thought Marty Green. "Why should I do that?"

"Because if you do, you get to live. If you don't, you shall make an excellent repast for my army."

Green became aware, at this point, of strange, misshapen forms behind the man. They lumbered out into the light, revealing themselves to be giant, deformed, mutated rats.

"You're gonna take over the city with those.... things?"

"Don't let their appearance fool you... they may not be geniuses, but they get the job done. And better yet, they obey my every command."

"Do you—do you really think you'll get away with this?"

"Please... who do you think will find you down here?"

* * *

_Well, here I am, back in the sewers. And they haven't gotten any less nasty._

Rhonda methodically worked her way through the sewer system. Her X-ray vision was less-than-useless down here, thanks to the high lead content of the pipes, so she was pretty much limited to exploring the tunnels one-by-one.

_There has got to be a faster way to do this, _she thought. _It's too cramped to fly...and my wings create too much drag for me to run too fast... and teleporting's out of the question with my horrible aim._

No, she was stuck with weaving through the sewers on foot at 60 mph. After the first thirty minutes, she was starting to lose hope, when she bumped into her first clue.

Well, actually, it wasn't so much a clue as it was a giant mutated sewer rat.

The thing stood eight feet tall at the shoulder, with patchy fur and glowing red eyes. Its forepaws had nasty-looking claws, and its teeth looked like they could bite right though steel. And it looked very much in the mood to make a meal out of her.

"Okay... down, Mickey... trust me, you do NOT want to start something with m-" She was cut off as the rat leapt upon her, scratching and biting. "Cut it out!" she demanded as she tried to pry it off. There was no way the teeth would be able to penetrate her skin, but the creature's jaws were impossibly strong. Rhonda fell back and drove her feet up into the beast's stomach, causing it to squeal in pain. She followed it up with a fist to the face, and a slash with the sharp part of her tail. The rat-thing, obviously not used to its dinner fighting back, scurried away.

"Now why am I _positive _that that thing had something to do with the missing mayor?" muttered Rhonda to herself as she took off after the monster.

* * *

"I haven't heard an answer from you yet, Mr. Mayor. Do you swear fealty to His Majesty, the Sewer King? Or do my pets get to devour you?"

"Fine, fine! Just... anything not to have to smell you! I mean, jeez, even spoiled pork didn't smell this bad!"

"Very well." The dumpy man extended the pocket watch. "Swear on the Royal Icon".

"I sw-"He was cut off by the return of one of the rat creatures. It ran in from the sewers, squealing in pain from unexplained injuries.

"Oh, my," the Sewer King said as he tended to the creature. "What could have done this to you, Mortimer?"

"Oh, that would be me," a nonchalant female voice answered from the access tunnel.

"Who are you?!" demanded the King. "How dare you assault a royal subject?"

"Hey, he attacked ME! And, as for who I am...."

A figure stepped out into the dim light, one that Mayor Green hadn't seen in six years. She was still a striking figure, though the gawkiness of youth was gone. She now had the figure of a mature young woman, and the grace and poise that went with it.

"What in the underworld's name ARE you?" the Sewer King asked, taken aback. Obviously, he hadn't kept up with the news down here.

"I guess introductions are in order." She held out her hand. "I'm Genesis. And you must be... disgusting?"

"Insolent fool! Go, my preciouses! Kill her for your master!"

The rat-things converged on Genesis, except for the still-wounded Mortimer. They varied in size from four to nine feet tall. Some had extra feet, eyes, or ears. One even had a second head; that one was now fighting with itself over which head would get to feast on the strange new thing.

Not that Rhonda had any intention of staying still and being dinner. She vaulted the rat in the lead and drop-kicked the one behind it. Two more tackled her; she caught the first and swung it into the second. Her tail functioned as a rear defense, warding off any beasties foolish enough to try and attack her from the back.

"Look, I could keep this up all day," the dark angel said, acting bored. "All that your stupid, stupid rat creatures'll actually do is make me madder, and I don't think you want me any madder. So, why don't you just call them off and let the mayor go?"

"Never!" cried the Sewer King, charging at her with his plunger-cum-scepter.

_Why can't this ever be simple, _thought the teen as she extended her claws. A quick swipe sliced the business end of the plunger clean off. The Sewer King stared at the remains, startled that this being had the unmitigated gall not to allow herself to be plungered to death.

"So... have you changed your mind yet?"

"Er... I believe I'll let the mayor go now," the diminutive monarch conceded.

* * *

Rhonda watched as Animal Control personnel herded the last of the rat-things into their fleet of vans. They would be driven to a lab, where they'd be studied to find the cause of their grotesque mutations.

Rhonda had her own theory. During her trek through the sewers in search of the mayor, she'd discovered an empty drum. Most of the logo had been rubbed off, but the letters "ureT" remained. She had a suspicion that it had once read "FutureTech".

Upon sharing her thoughts with the mayor, he'd agreed. "I wouldn't be surprised. Sheck's got a rap sheet a mile long. I bet he'd been dumping his gunk in the sewers for years before they busted him. I have a feeling that the parole board won't be too happy to hear about this," He turned to the violet-skinned girl. "As for you... I'll have to clear this with the police chief, but I want to officially deputize you as a special agent of the Hillwood PD. This city could use you. "

"Gosh... I'm, uh... thanks. But I gotta go now." With that final stammering, she launched herself into the air.

* * *

_Now THIS was something I really missed. _Rhonda allowed her wings to carry her upwards, drinking in the sheer freedom they provided. She soared amongst the skyscrapers of Downtown, attracting stares, waves, and more than a few wolf-whistles. _Guess I mutated in all the right places, _thought the supernaturally-endowed girl.

Having lost track of time, Rhonda was shocked when she checked her watch and realized she had been flying around upwards of five hours. _Mom is gonna kill me, _she thought. _Cutting school, disappearing, staying out all night..._

_...okay, calm down, girl. You've got some pretty major extenuating circumstances here. Transforming into a supernatural creature and saving the city pretty much trumps skipping school and breaking curfew._

_...right?_

Maybe sneaking in through the window would be a better idea. She'd be able to handle things better after a good night's sleep.

Within a few minutes, she was hovering outside her bedroom window. Using her telekinesis, she opened the lock and pried the door open. Carefully, she slipped in through the window.

That's when she noticed the lump underneath the covers in the bed. She knew what it most like was... she often found Rhia curled up in her bed when she was out. Carefully, she removed the covers and gently lifted Rhia. The toddler nestled safely in her arms, Rhonda snuck toward the nursery and slipped Rhia into her bed.

Unfortunately, Rhia picked that time to open her eyes. The sight of a winged shadow with three glowing eyes looming over her provoked the exact kind of reaction you'd expect from a two-year-and-ten-months-old child... loud, LOUD wails.

"Shhh!" the frantic teen whispered. "Rhia, it's me! Rhonda!" But the girl just kept screaming as if there was no tomorrow.

Her super-hearing heard the lights flicked on in her parents' bedroom. This would not end well. She kept trying to calm her little sister down, but she would have none of it.

As, the footsteps grew nearer, she wondered just what the next few minutes would bring...

TO BE CONTINUED

_Next chapter: Can Rhonda balance superheroics and school? And the start of my first crossover..._


	4. Back in the Flow

_Demile: You think you know what the crossover's gonna be? Well, you're most likely WRONG! You'll find out at the end of this chapter._

_Number6: Thanks for the kind words! Yep, Rhonda's more confident this time around... I'll be sticking a sort of "profile" on the end of this chapter to give the readers an idea of what she can and can't do._

_And you're WRONG!!!_

_Light Sneasel: Lila's disguise is a lot more than just a mask. Good idea with Rhonda using telepathy to hide her dark angel nature, but I came up with a different solution. And you're WRONG!!!!! ...oh, wait, you didn't guess._

_BTW... I've actually done a crude MSPaint retouch of a Betoo drawing that gives an idea of what Rhonda looks like as a Dark Angel. Drop me an IM and I'll send you a copy._

_And now..._

Chapter 4: Back in the Flow

"Uh... hi..."

Rhonda's first day back on the job as a superheroine (complete with mutating back into her violet-skinned angelic/demonic form) had been going okay so far. She'd defeated an army of mutant sewer rats, saved the mayor's life, become an official member of the Hillwood police department (well, semi-official until the mayor officially got her deputized), and rediscovered the joy of flight. But it had all come to a halt when she'd tried to sneak back into the house after-hours and had frightened her little sister, waking up her parents.

_Now I'm gonna catch it..._

"I was wondering when you'd get back," Buckley Lloyd said. "It's three AM, were you aware of that?"

"I, uh... I lost track of time..." She blushed a deep grape.

"It's a good thing Nadine called ahead," Brooke continued. "We'd've been worried out of our minds. Then we saw a report on your rescue of the mayor on the 6:00 news."

"We're very proud of you for that, by the way," injected Buckley.

"...but that was nine hours ago. You REALLY should've let us know where you were."

"I know, and I'm sorry... but first, I panicked, and then there was the whole business with the mayor, and then... well, flying for the first time in six years, right? You can see why I'd lose track of time!"

"We'll let it slide this time," replied Buckley. But from now on, carry a cell phone and have it on at all times."

"Dad! They'd be able to trace it back to you!"

"We'll set up a dummy number for Genesis. Link it to an offshore account... there should be no problems."

"Well.... I guess that'll work."

'We'll call you in sick tomorrow, and then we'll figure out what to do about school."

"I should just be able to go like I am. There's nothing really wrong with me."

"Honey... it's a sensitive situation. I mean, look at how Rhia reacted to you..." The girl in question was huddled in her mother's arms, quivering in fear. "Rhia, it's okay. It's just your sister. See? It's Rhonda."

"Not Rhonda," the child matter-of-factly stated. "Monster."

"Aw, c'mon," Rhonda cajoled, "don't you recognize my voice?"

"NOT Rhonda."

"Please... how can I prove it?"

"Song."

"Wha?t"

"SONG," insisted the toddler.

_She means the special song that only I sing with her... good. Let's get this over with._

"Okay... a one! A two! A one-two three!

"_This is your left, that's your left!_

_This is your right, that's your right!_

_This is your left, that's your left, _

_This is your right, that's your right!"_

She did the whole song, with the dance steps included (throwing in some tail-moves for good measure). Rhia finally relaxed, and started clapping and laughing.

When Rhonda finally finished, she said, "Well... am I Rhonda now?"

"Rhonda!" the little girl agreed, clamping onto her leg. Rhonda swept her up into a hug.

"Well... now that everyone's sure I'm me... the question is, how I'm ever gonna get back my life."

"We'll come up with something, I'm sure," her father replied.

"It would be easy if—OW!" Rhia had poked her in the third eye, as though trying to see if it was real. "Don't do that!"

"Sorry," Rhia replied apologetically.

"As I was saying... it would be easy if I could just force myself back to normal... if I could somehow just wish myself human. Oh, I wish I could..."

"Er, Rhonda?" queried her mother.

Rhonda realized she was tingly all over. Her tail and wings felt numb, and her vision was blurring again.

"You ARE changing back," confirmed her mom.

Over the next few days, Rhonda learned that she could pretty much trigger the change back and forth at will. The full metamorphosis took about three minutes to go through, and with effort, Rhonda could even control what she was wearing when she assumed her "Genesis" form. And the best part was, the transformation was completely pain-free.

_This is amazing, _she told herself. _I can lead a normal life, more or less, and call upon my powers when I need them. And it's way better protection for my secret identity than something like a pair of glasses._

When she got on the bus on Monday, those in her inner circle looked surprised. She slid in next to Nadine.

"I didn't expect to see you come in today," her friend admitted. "You ran out like a bat out of hell."

"Gosh, why wouldn't I show up?"

"Well... I thought you changed back. You made the news and everything."

"I know. I'll let you in on it before class."

Upon arrival, Rhonda hurried Nadine into the girls' room. Making sure that no one was watching, she said, "Now watch closely."

Before Nadine's eyes, she triggered the transformation, reweaving her clothing into the costume she'd designed for her Genesis identity; a red-and-gold breastplate with matching bracelets, anklets, and tiara (to keep her hair from falling into her third eye like it always did), and a pleated black skirt.

Nadine got it immediately. "You figured out how to change back and forth."

"Yep," Rhonda confirmed. "I've officially got a secret identity." She morphed back to her human form. "It takes a few minutes, and there's no pain. So... wanna be my sidekick?"

"Uh... no thanks. Unless knowledge of the insect world is a super-power."

"I'm kidding, 'Dine." She checked her watch. "Ooh, first period. See you soon!"

She ran for her locker. This was the part of the day she was dreading; she was still locker-adjacent to her ex.

She risked a glance at the long-nosed, stringy-haired, backwards-hat-wearing little twerp. His expression was a surprise... he looked like he'd just gotten word that his dog had just died crashing his car. _Just ignore him. He's out of your life, and he's staying out of your life._

He started sobbing.

_Oh, hell._

She could NOT start feeling sorry for him. He was the guilty party. HE had cheated on HER behind her back. Sympathy was not an option.

He sobbed even louder.

_For the luvva... Okay, fine. Talk to him. If only so that he can keep a shred of his dignity._

"sigh What's the matter, Sid?"

"Sh-she... sh-she..."

"Spit it our, Sid, before I start remembering why I'm not supposed to be talking to you."

"Sh-she _dumped _me."

"What?"

"Sh-she said th-that the only reason sh-she wanted me was to get at YOU..."

"WHAT?!" _That BITCH!_

"She said that now that you've dumped me, I'm not worth dating."

"She did, did she? Well... she's SERIOUSLY crossed the wrong person."

"So..." Sid smiled hopefully, "Does this mean that we're back together again?"

"Not even close."

_I don't get it, _thought "Lila Sawyer" (actually, the being currently in control of Lila Sawyer, who went by the name Zezzarra). _I thought she was reverting to her mutated state. Maybe I was mistaken..._

_Oh well... I guess I'll have to suffer with being human. Poor me._

Dumping Sid had given her a giddy thrill. Beings of her race didn't experience emotions as humans did... merging with Lila had given her access to a whole range of new experiences, and she was determined to enjoy them as much as she could before the inevitable day that she would be forced to return to her people.

"Hey!"

She turned. The subject of her surveillance was striding toward her, angry, and looking as human as she had on Thursday. "Hey!" she shouted again. "I wanna talk to you!"

Lila put on her best smug expression. "Why, whatever would you want with me? Besides murder, I mean."

"Sorry, Lila... at the time, I thought you were worth strangling. Now I know better."

"Is this about Sid? You don't actually feel sorry for him, do you?"

"Yeah, I do. I have this think called a soul. Makes me think people's feelings matter. I'm sure you have no clue what I'm talking about."

"So... that's your excuse for being a loser, huh? Keep telling yourself that. Deep down, we both know the truth. It's because you're still the same mutant freak you were six years ago. And if you don't back off, I'll tell the whole world what you really are."

"You wouldn't..."

"You know ever-so-well that I would."

Rhonda's expression slackened. _Yes. She's beaten, _thought Lila.

"This isn't over," the raven-haired teen said.

"I'd be oh-so-disappointed if it was. But this round IS over."

"She's got me over a barrel," Rhonda said to the gathered lunch crew. "Somehow, she knows I have my powers back, and if I don't leave her alone, my secret identity's gone."

"You have your powers back?" asked Phoebe, who'd added spiked hair and an eyebrow piercing to her fashion rebellion.

"Criminy, Pheebs, weren't you listening?" Helga admonished.

"I've been somewhat distracted, I admit."

"Oh, I'd bet," replied Helga, mouthing "Gerald" to the others.

"What was that?"

'Nothing. Eat your maki rolls."

"If you think that it's somehow because I'm not over Gerald, you're wrong! I AM over him! Completely and totally!"

"We believe you," smirked Nadine.

"Yep. Totally buying your indifference, Phoebe."

"Fine. Be jerks. I don't care. Everything's meaningless anyway."

"Great, Pheebs. Very Goth-y."

The crackle of the school's outdated PA system cut off their lunchtime banter. "Attention students... Fifth period classes for today are cancelled, due to an assembly. Please report to the auditorium. That is all."

"What do you think it is?" asked Nadine.

"Who cares. We're getting out of Calculus," replied Rhonda as they headed for the auditorium.

As they took their seats, the principal took the podium.

"Students, faculty," he began, "Without any further ado, I'd like to introduce our guest speaker, whose generous gift of two million dollars will allow us to perform some much-needed renovations, including replacing the PA system."

"I give you... Mr. Vladimir Masters."

_OK, I think NOW you can guess what I'm crossing over with. :-)_

_Now, since this was such a short chapter, here's a little something extra... _

HERO PROFILE: GENESIS

Real Name: Rhonda Wellington Lloyd

Occupation: High School Student

Base of Operations: Hillwood, CT

Known Relatives: Brooke (mother), Buckley (father), unnamed aunt and uncle, Samantha (cousin)

Height: (as Rhonda) 5'7" (as Genesis) 6'6"

Weight: (as Rhonda) 123 lbs. (as Genesis) 205 lbs.

Eyes: (as Rhonda) Violet (as Genesis) Green

Hair: Black

Distinguishing features: (as Genesis) Violet skin; four fingers (including opposable thumbs) on each hand; three-toed digitrade feet; both fingers and toes are clawed; large avian wings with black feathers; prehensile tail, 5 ½ feet long, with barbed stinger at tip; three eyes, with vertical slit pupils

Superhuman physical abilities: Can lift approximately 100 tons (110 if augmenting her strength with telekinesis); top flight speed of MACH 15; top running speed of 60MPH; heightened reflexes; near-invulnerability to conventional injuries; regenerative; immune to all known poisons and diseases; does not age; can fire blasts of focused laserlike energy from her hands, tail, and third eye; tail stinger delivers a paralysis toxin; finger claws are razor sharp and can extend to a length of 12 inches; greatly-enhanced vision and hearing

Superhuman mental abilities: Telepathy; telekinesis; pyrokinesis; ability to manipulate wind; can alter the molecular structure of inanimate objects; can heal others from injuries and even death, to some extent; can teleport, but has lousy aim; photographic memory

Weaknesses: Can be suffocated or drowned; cannot withstand explosions of nuclear level or greater; vulnerable to certain types of magic; has limited amount of energy, and requires food, water, and sleep to replenish it.

_Next: DANNY PHANTOM!_


	5. Prey for a Miracle

_Once again, I'd like to thank Craig Bartlett for _Hey Arnold!, _and I'd also like to extend thanks to Butch Hartman for giving us _Danny Phantom_. Thanks, both of yas!_

_Demile: Lila is an innocent possessed, yes. Zezzarra is a separate being, though the nature of their joining will become apparent soon._

_Number6: Sorry, I'm not giving out any hints as to Lila's fate. Hopefully, it'll surprise you._

_Light Sneasel: What can I say except you ain't seen nothin' yet!_

_Eve4000: Glad you're enjoying my story! I hope the rest of it lives up to your expectations._

Chapter 5: Prey for a Miracle

"Thank you, future leaders of the world. It gives me great pleasure to be here to present this grant to your school. I may have made my fortune in industry, but there's no greater industry than forging young minds. You are our greatest asset, because the future depends on you. So, if we invest in you, we invest in tomorrow..."

_Who WROTE this drivel? _thought Vlad Masters, as he continued to read off his prepared speech. As he droned on, he mulled his real reason for coming to this pathetic town. Namely, the existence of the Genesis girl.

Vlad was one who knew the value of power. As a college student, he had been content merely to seek knowledge. Indeed, he had nearly been able to achieve what no one wvere had: successfully breaching the barrier between the mortal world and the afterlife. Unfortunately, Vlad's oafish roommate, Jack Fenton, had blundered into his project at a critical stage. His meddling, and the resultant ectoplasmic backlash, not only destroyed both the machine AND his notes, destroying his chance of ever recreating the experiment, but had infected Vlad with a strange case of incurable glowing acne. It was years before his face cleared up, and to add insult to injury, that lout Fenton married the one woman Vlad had ever loved, the beautiful Madeline Jansen, and had gone on to become a respected expert on paranormal phenomena, and a father of two. In short: Jack Fenton had stolen Vlad Masters' destiny.

The accident was not without benefits, of course. Some months after the accident, Vlad discovered that the ectoplasmic energy that had destroyed his complexion had also endowed him with powers beyond his wildest dreams. At first, he was merely able to become invisible and intangible, but with practice, his powers grew exponentially. Using them, Vlad was able to "acquire" the capital he needed to establish a presence in the business world, and through further judicious use, he was able to amass a fortune large enough to make him one of the ten wealthiest men alive.

Still, even money was unable to fill the void within his life. His attempts to purchase his beloved Green Bay Packers had met with failure, and the prospect of being able to land almost any woman he desired meant nothing when the one woman he really wanted was out of his reach.

And then there was... the boy.

About two months or so ago, he'd first heard the rumors through the ghostly grapevine, about a boy with powers similar to his own. The "half-a", they called him... half-a ghost, half-a human. At first, he thought he'd found a kindred spirit. The boy was the only other person remotely similar to himself. Someone he could take under his wing, mold, like the son he could never have.

But when he finally met this boy, this "Danny Phantom", there had been two problems.

One, the boy was firmly on the side of good.

And second... he was the cursed Jack Fenton's son.

Still, Vlad had tried to give him the benefit of his experience, but the child had proven too loyal to his father. After that fiasco, Vlad had agreed to a truce... but truces were made to be broken. His first move was to fund the young ghost hunter, Valerie Gray, but she had proven inept. This new girl, however... this Genesis... she would be powerful enough to take down the ghost boy, yet new enough to the game to be easily manipulated.

"...so, in conclusion... keep reaching for the stars, Dino Spumoni Memorial High... because your destiny awaits."

_That oughtta hold the little sons of bitches, _thought Vlad as he left the podium. _Now... the question is, which of those children out there was her?_

_A bit of ghostly surveillance should answer my questions..._

* * *

"What a throw-pillow," muttered Helga. "That guy made Simmons look like a master speaker." 

"Oh, I don't know," mused Nadine. "He must be doing something right."

"Definitely not dressing himself," injected Rhonda. "I mean, who wears string ties in this day and age? And what's with that man-ponytail of his? Did he take a wrong turn at 1991?"

* * *

So... not either of the blondes, not the brunette, not the Asian girl.... and definitely not Buck Lloyd's brat. There's no way SHE could be a superhero. 

He'd been sure Genesis attended this school, but none of the girls showed any sign of being the one.

It was time for Plan B... he took out a small communicator and contacted one of his more useful associates.

"Hello, Skulker? This is Plasmius. I've got an assignment for you..."

* * *

That evening, Rhonda stared at the mound of homework on her desk. 

_C'mon... you have to do this. Sure, in the end, none of it is really relevant to your chosen profession of being an actress-slash-supermodel, but it's still important._

She looked longingly out the window...

_C'mon, Rhon... focus..._

_...well, an hour won't kill me._

* * *

Rhonda soared gracefully over Hillwood, enjoying the brisk night air. Her three eyes scanned the streets below, searching for nefarious activity. A quick bit of crimebusting would hopefully satisfy her thirst for action and enable her to get back and really focus on that homework. 

Unfortunately, there was precious little going on...

...no, wait...

* * *

"Awright, Morrie... we're almost in!" 

"I dunno, Vic... maybe this isn't such a good idea."

"Whaddaya mean?"

"I mean, maybe we should rob, I'unno, a bank or somethin'. Somethin with more money."

"Hey... vendin' machines have plenty of money in 'em, an' it's a lot easier t'get it out."

"I'm just sayin', there's what, twenny bucks in'ere? How much did we spend on the tools?"

"Couple hundred... what's your point?"

"Point is, we're spendin' more'n we're makin'!"

"It's a one-time investment. There's what, a thousand vendin' machines in this city? We hit all of 'em, we could be lookin' and thirty, forty grand!"

As the two crooks argued, a winged shadow fell over them.

"_Ahem."_

They whirled to face the newcomer.

"Oh, _shit,_" mumbled Morrie.

"So," said the violet-skinned demon-angel hybrid, "...are they all out of Diet Yahoo? 'Cause I hate when that happens."

"C'mon, CHEESE IT!" yelled Vic, as the two made a run for it.

* * *

_And I thought this wouldn't be fun, _she thought as she leapt into the air and landed in front of the fleeing criminals. 

"Cripes!" exclaimed Morrie. "She ain't human!"

"Wow, and here you two are, wasting your vast intellects on knocking over soda machines. You guys should be with NASA."

"C'mon, shoot 'er!"

"Uh, we ain't got guns, Morrie."

"Well, then... throw stuff!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm doin' it!"

"NOT THE FREAKIN' BLOWTORCH, WE NEED THAT!"

Rhonda held out her hand and the flying power tool stopped in mid-air, then fell to the ground. "You done yet? I've got stuff to do."

"Uh... you ain't gonna eat us, are ya?" asked the larger of the two crooks.

"Hmmm.... no, I had idiot for breakfast. I'm just gonna leave you for the cops, who should be here... in about sixty seconds." On cue, sirens approached.

"How'd you know?"

"I'm psychic, dumbass. I can see the future." Actually, she couldn't. She had picked up the sirens earlier with her super-hearing, but what the bad guys didn't know couldn't hurt 'em.

* * *

He observed, invisibly, from the shadows. His exo-armor's lenses recorded every nuance of her movements, analyzing them for patterns, weaknesses, anything that he could exploit. 

_Plasmius owes me big for this, _Skulker mused as he formulated a plan of attack. _A half-demonic, half-angelic creature... the rarest and most unique of prizes... and I have to deliver her to him. _

_The hell with it. She's mine._

* * *

"Thanks, Genesis." 

The cops herded Vic and Morrie into the back of the waiting car. They weren't offering much resistance. Whatever fight they had in them had been pretty much scared out of them by Hillwood's newest resident superheroine.

"No problem, guys. If you need anything else, e-mail me! I'm at 3eyedhottie at wahoo dot com!'" She'd set up the dummy e-mail address at the same time that she'd gotten her dummy cel number. _Gotta remember to talk Phoebe into making me a website... if Miss Everything's Pointless still does that sort of thing._

It was time to be getting back, now. She took wing, straight up towards the sky. As she passed the roof of the building, she caught something out of the corner of her eye.

She veered to the left, barely avoiding being ensnared by a glowing green net. _Where'd that come from?_

"Well met, dark angel," came a sepulchral voice, seemingly from nowhere.

"Okay, who said that? Come out where I can see you!"

"As you wish." A massive armored figure shimmered into being on the rooftop. He had to be at least seven, possibly eight feet tall, and was built like several linebackers rolled into one. His face was a grinning skull with a mohawk of flame.

"Greetings," he said. "My name is Skulker. I am something of a collector. And you, hybrid, are to be the latest addition to my collection."

"That's nice, but I have homework. So, I'm sorry, but you're getting the express butt-kicking." She fired a blast of energy at the... robot? Guy in battle armor? She wasn't sure what he was.

"You have spunk. I like that." Skulker held his gauntlet forward, summoning a solid-energy shield, which bore the brunt of the blast easily. "Let's see if you have the power to back it up." A jetpack seemed to grow organically out of his back, while his right hand morphed into a plasma cannon.

_Great. He's pompous AND powerful. _Rhonda dodged between Skulker's blast, hurling more blasts of her own. Most were blocked, but one managed to damage the cannon's targeting sensor.

"Excellent," Skulker said with a vicious grin. "It's been far too long since I faced an opponent worthy of my skills. I mean, someone other than him."

"Other than who?"

"You'll go to your grave finding out, girl!" A strange weapon popped out of his shoulder, launching what looked like a missile. "Oh, crap," she muttered as she dodged the projectile, only to have it turn around and lock on again. Every further attempt to evade it met with failure, as the missile kept correcting its course. "What the hell is this? A heat seeker?"

"No, my dear Genesis... it's a _soul_-seeker. Once it locks on, you can't shake it."

_He's right, _Rhonda thought as all her attempts to evade the missile failed. _But maybe if I lead it into something... _

She changed course towards the abandoned quarry outside of town and dived sharply down, then teleported herself 1000 feet straight up just as she was about to hit the ground. For once, she actually managed to wind up where she wanted.

Unfortunately, the missile passed right through the quarry floor and reversed direction to lock on again. And she was too disoriented from the teleport to try anything else...

_This is gonna hurt..._

It felt like getting hit with a fifty-thousand-ton hammer. Rhonda plummeted to the ground, dazed, bruised, and singed.

"And so, the hunt ends," jibed Skulker, setting down in front of the injured heroine. "It was fun while it lasted... but all good things must come to an end. Wouldn't you agree, 'good thing?'"

Rhonda tried to get up, but her sore muscles refused to cooperate. It was a struggle just to get to her knees.

"You're still trying. Impressive. But futile."

"You... gonna shoot me... or just talk me to death?"

"Oh, I'm going to shoot you." He leveled his other arm, the one without the cannon, at her. It popped open, revealing a multi-barreled laser blaster. "I hate to damage you... but we can always patch you up when I have you stuffed."

"Ew! No!" With a burst of adrenaline, Rhonda managed to tackle the skull-faced assailant, tearing off his weapon and delivering several staggering blows to his chest.

Skulker braced himself against the quarry wall, his Mohawk flaring up to reflect his growing anger. "You'll pay for that, demon-child! With your HIDE!"

He lunged forward, popping a glowing blade out of his gauntlet. _How many weapons does this guy have? _thought Rhonda as she dodged his lunge – barely, as the adrenaline rush was wearing off.

And Skulker knew it. "Losing your second wind, Genesis? Much better." He retracted his blade. "This will be more satisfying with my bare hands."

* * *

_The Skulker seems to be playing his part a little too well, _Vlad mused as he observed, invisibly. _The dark angel's death is not on the agenda... at least, not until she's taken care of Daniel._

Now, was the time to reveal himself.

* * *

"Halt! Your evildoing is at an end, villain!" 

"Wha... Plasmius?"

The newcomer had bluish-green skin, black hair with a white streak down the middle in a twin-peaks style, glowing red eyes, and was dressed in a pale gray military-type outfit with a reversible black-and-red cape. He looked kind of like a cross between Count Dracula and that super-hero magician from the comics.

"That is correct... I am Doctor Plasmius, master of the mystic arts, and sworn opponent of the undead that plague the living realm. And now... BEGONE! I dispatch you back to the accursed plane from which you were SPAWNED!"

He fired a blast of red energy at the robot-cyborg-whatever, and it vanished.

"How did you do that?" the astonished teen asked, dumbfounded.

"Many are my powers, young dark angel... but, not without limits. I must rest now... and yet, there is so much more I must do. The one who sent this fiend is still loose, and I lack the power to defeat him."

"What are you talking about?"

"I speak of he who is the terror of the spirit world... the one known only as Danny Phantom. He has made his home in Amity Park, Illinois, and from there he spreads his evil."

_Amity Park? Is he serious? That's where my mom's sister and her family live..._

"Look... I'll be glad to help you out, but first, can I rest a little? I'm kinda wiped out... I tomorrow okay?"

"Well... if you absolutely MUST...I suppose it can wait. But beware! For he is a wily little monster! He possesses the ability to bewitch the minds of children and bend them to his cause!"

"Well, this child has a VERY strong mind... I think I'll be able to handle him."

"Very well. Godspeed, dark angel! May your victory be great!" And with that, Doctor Plasmius vanished in a puff of smoke.

_What a weirdo, _thought Rhonda as she lifted off for the trip back home. When she finally returned to her room, she collapsed on her bed and fell asleep, not even bothering to resume her human form.

* * *

"Nice performance, Skulker... though, why do I get the feeling you were overplaying your part?" 

"I have no _idea_ what you're talking about, Plasmius."

"No matter. By tomorrow, that little hellspawn will have Danny Phantom on the ropes. And when she's about to finish him off... why, I'll swoop in, and offer to kill her... on the grounds that he pledge his undying allegiance to me, of course And you can have the girl when I'm done. What's left of her, anyway."

"As long as there's enough of her left to stuff and mount, I'll be pleased. But I'd be wary, Plasmius. These do-gooders have an annoying tendency to work out their problems without violence."

"Well, in that, case... I suppose I'll have to switch to 'Plan B.'"

And the two ghostly villains laughed, long and hard into the night.

_Next: What's goin' on in Amity Park? We'll find out!_


	6. The Amity Park Horror

_Demile: Ask and ye shall receive._

_Number6: Sorry I took so long. Glad you thought it was worth the wait. Skulker appears in "One of a Kind", "Bitter Reunions" (which also intro'd Vlad), "Prisoners of Love", and "Life Lessons". He's one of three favorites, with Vlad and a certain other recurring ghost who will appear this chapter._

_Lila? Well, she's gonna... hey, you almost made me give something away!_

_Light Sneasel: Hey, it's tradition. Blame Stan Lee._

Chapter 6: The Amity Park Horror

"...2500 words, on the ancestor of your choice, by Friday."

A collective groan went up from Mr. Arthur Lancer's class. _Ah, yes... it's always nice to be appreciated, _the shiny-pated educator sarcastically mused.

He sighed, and continued. "And I don't want any excuses this time. You'd have to be pretty creative to surpass the one Ms. Jimenez came up with last time... I believe you had a nail polish emergency?"

Paulina Jimenez, the class beauty, in her mind most of all, nodded. "I had a note from my manicurist and everything."

"Yes... of course you did." The bell rang. "And so ends another rewarding day."

* * *

"So... who're you gonna do your report on?" asked Tucker Foley as the group left Casper High.

Danny Fenton groaned. "I really don't wanna think about that right now."

"Oh, yeah. Because with _your _grades, you can really afford to slack off," Samantha Manson interjected snarkily.

"Well, I thought I'd do mine on Cornelius Foley," Tucker said, as he fiddled with something on his ever-present PDA. "He worked on the Underground Railroad."

"Freeing slaves and stuff?" asked Danny.

"No, he was a consulting engineer on the New York City subway system. And, Danny, you could do yours on your great-grandfather Ambrose Fenton, the phrenologist... or your great-uncle Hiram Fenton, who ran the famous Mellogg Sanitarium, where everyone got a daily barium enema..."

"You have my family tree on that thing?" Danny asked, incredulously.

"Hey... it doesn't seem so weird NOW, does it? We could also go with Silas Fenton, who pioneered spontaneous combustion research..."

'Sure, Tucker... I REALLY wanna broadcast the fact that I come from a long line of crackpot scientists. You know, something that'll make me even MORE of an outcast than I am."

"Why do you even care?" asked Sam, scowling. "Weirdness is what makes us who we are. Stop trying to fit into the niche society forces you into. Embrace your differences!"

Danny smiled inwardly. That was Sam for you... while others tried to avoid being labeled outcasts, Sam wore her own outcast status as a badge of honor.

"Now, I'm planning to do my report on Agatha Stockwell."

"Who's that?" asked Tucker.

"She was my great-great-great- well, there are a lot of greats in there. But she was one of the few people to escape judgment by the Salem Witch Trials."

"How'd she pull that off?" asked Danny.

"Because she really _was_ a witch, and she used her magical abilities to escape."

"You're kidding, right?" Tucker asked, a look of utter disbelief on his face. "There's no such thing as witches. They're as fake as..."

"...Ghosts?" finished Sam with a smirk.

"Cheap shot," replied Tucker. "There are scientific explanations for ghosts."

'Really? Like what?"

"Like, uh... Danny, why are we going to the supermarket?"

"Well, my parents are at that conference on the paranormal in Dimmsdale this week, so Jazz is in charge, and she's making me pick some stuff u-"

He stopped in midsentence, and his friends could immediately tell why. Danny's "phantom-sense" was tingling.

"Man, I can't even go grocery shopping. Be right back, guys..."

"Be careful, Danny!" Sam called. "The whole Walker thing still hasn't died down!"

"I know, Sam. But someone has to deal with this stuff."

Danny sprinted for the nearest empty lane. Making sure no one was watching, he triggered the change. Dual rings spread from his midsection, turning his hair chalk-white, his eyes an eerie fluorescent green, and transforming his clothing into his trademark black and white uniform.

Danny Fenton, average teen, had become Danny Phantom: Card-Carrying Superhero.

"Danny!" Tucker's voice called from the end of the aisle. "Bogey's in the cereal section!"

"Oh, great... now I have to fight dead movie actors, too?"

"No... bogey... you know, like an enemy aircraft... except he's a ghost... ah, forget it."

Danny flew toward the cereal aisle, where, a swirling vortex of spectral energy had formed. As he watched, it coalesced into a familiar form... a heavyset, middle-aged man in overalls and a knit cap.

Danny groaned. "Oh, crud. ANYONE but HIM."

"Bwah-haha!" cackled the specter. "Once again, I, the Box Ghost, have escaped from the warehouse of the afterlife and returned to the mortal plane to unleash my rectangular vengeance!"

"Look," Danny said with an annoyed expression, "could we just skip the fight that you KNOW you're gonna lose, and get to the part where you get sucked into the thermos?"

"Nay, for you cannot contain the master of containers!"

"...didn't think so," Danny said, wearily.

"Now..." He waved his hand, and the boxes of cereal burst open, "prepare to feel the wrath of twelve essential vitamins and minerals! Part of this complete breakfast... of terror!"

Swarms of brightly-colored corn puffs converged on Danny's location. Instinctively, he turned himself intangible, allowing the cereal to pass through him harmlessly.

"Nice try. Now, it's time for YOUR toy surprise!"

The Box Ghost groaned. "Okay, even by my standards, that was really lame."

"Hey, gimme a break. I have to write all my own material."

He reached behind his back for the Fenton Thermos. Far from merely being a device for keeping food warm, the Thermos was a sophisticated ghost containment device. Which could also keep food warm.

"I'm markin' you 'Return to Sender', Box Ghost!" Danny pulled the cap off the Thermos and aimed it at the burly apparition. A vortex issued forth and began to draw him in.

"Nooooo! Not the non-rectangular prison!" The ghost's protests went unanswered as his spectral essence was pulled into the thermos and sealed away.

"I swear, this guy gets more pathetic every time." Once again, Danny transformed, this time back into his Everyday Normal Guy form.

"Better be careful, Danny," Sam warned. "They've had 'ghost alarms' installed all over the place. We're just lucky your folks are away... otherwise, they'd've been here by now. Well, you mom, anyway."

"I know, I know," sighed Danny. "I wonder if any other superheroes have to worry about their moms. Anyway, let's get the shopping done with... maybe we can meet up at the mall later."

* * *

"No, mom," groaned Rhonda as she touched down on the outskirts of Amity Park. "I didn't have any trouble on the flight over. I've flown from New York to Israel nonstop, mom, I can handle Illinois. groan Yes, mom, I'll say hi to Aunt Ruby and Uncle Howard.pause ...no, mom... I didn't forget Sam, I just don't think she'd be that glad to see me. pause Oh, c'mon, she NEVER liked me. She thinks I'm a tool of the fashion-industrial complex. pause Look, I gotta go. I've got a ghost to find. pause Yeah, I'll be careful. pause I love you too, mom."

_I wonder if other superheroes have to worry about their moms, _Rhonda thought as she shut off her cell phone.

Making sure no one could see, she ducked behind some bushes and reverted herself back to her human form. There was, as usual, a brief moment of disorientation as her vision adjusted, though she was by now getting used to switching back and forth from two-eyed to three-eyed vision.

Now once again indistinguishable from normal teens, Rhonda strolled into town.

_Where to begin, where to begin..._ She scanned her surroundings. She could see, among other things, office buildings, a firehouse, and...

...a mall.

_Well... if it's a teenage ghost I'm looking for, what better place to start?_

Rationalization firmly in place, she set off, mallward.

* * *

"All right... I finally made it!"

Harold Feldman surveyed the virtual terrain of _Doomed_'s thirteenth and final level. Carefully, he made his way around the landscape, hunting for the keys that would grant him victory over his electronic competition.

His hand brushed against an oddly flexible area... almost as if the air itself was made of some kind of rubber.

"What the heck?"

He probed the area... it gave way, opening a hole. Inside, he could make out an endless void...

"Hey, this must be..."

"...Level zero!"

The last came from a high-pitched, irritating voice from within the hole. Suddenly, a strange monster, like none he'd seen up until now, launched itself out. From the waist down, it was an oversized spider... from the waist up, a human with bad teeth, sunglasses, and a brain floating in a domed head.

"I am Technus!" exclaimed the being. "Lord of Cyberspace, King of Computers, Emir of Electronics... and boy, am I glad to be out of THAT place!"

_Man, this guy's taking his roleplaying way too seriously, _thought Harold. _He's acting like he actually WAS trapped in there. _"Uh... no problem!"

"I must reward you somehow... oh, I know! I WON'T obliterate you!"

Suddenly, Harold was forced out of the game, finding himself back in Video Salon showroom. Floating in front of him was Technus, now in the form of a wild-haired scientist.

"Ah... free once again to wreak havoc on the real world! Which, incidentally, is far more fun than beating up on pixels." At his command, a vortex swept up the computers, gaming consoles, handhelds, PDAS, cell phones, and other _objets d'technologie _around him (including the VR-Boy system that Harold was testing), assembling them into a robotic body.

"And now... I will have my revenge on the one who imprisoned me... Danny Phantom!"

The robot lumbered out of the store, laughing maniacally.

_That's it, _Harold decided. _I'm taking up backgammon.

* * *

_

"OK, guys, what do you wanna do first?" asked Danny.

"Gee... I'm just so overjoyed to be in this monument to corporate greed and conspicuous consumption that I don't even know where to st—ooh, 'Sore Subject' has a sale on studded dog collars!" Sam ran off to take advantage of her need for neckwear, leaving the two boys alone.

"Well, I'm gonna head over to 'Game Salon' and see if they have the new V-Cube games in yet. Wanna come with, Danny?"

'Sure, might as we-"

Once again, Danny felt a chill inside. "Oh, great, twice in one night. Tucker, can you-"

"Yeah, I've got you covered, pal." He jumped in front of Danny, blocking him from vision while he transformed.

"Looks like the commotion is coming from Game Salon..."

"...which probably means Technus. Wonderful." Danny took off toward the game store.

"Check if they have _SpaceWolf: Raid_ yet!" called Tucker after him.

* * *

"So, I was thinking I'd do my great-grandfather, Flash Baxter. He invented the atomic wedgie. Of course, in those days it was called the 'steam turbine wedgie' but the principle was essentially the same..."

"Whoa, hot chick at three o'clock!" exclaimed Kwan Ng.

"Three o'clock?" asked Butch.

"You know... over there!"

Dash Baxter followed his finger. "The one with...?"

"The black hair, yeah."

"I got dibs!" Slab yelled.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You're not gonna get anywhere with that attitude, Slab." Dash sagely advised. "Watch the master." He began to walk over. "I'll send you a postcard from Second base."

The girl seemed distracted by a news kiosk, which was displaying a story about that ghost kid.

"Scared, huh?" he said, in his best "Mr. Smooth" voice. Don't worry... Inviso-Bill isn't gonna mess with you... not as long as Dash Baxter is around."

The girl turned around. "Should I, like, be impressed or something?" she replied, her eyebrow raised.

_There's something about this girl... something familiar. Almost like I've seen her somewhere before..._

"Well, considering that he's the studliest guy in Amity Park, yeah, you definitely should."

"Studliest, huh? Yeah, I'd definitely wanna be around someone like that." She looked around. "So... where is he?"

"You're looking at him, babe."

"What, the Strawberry Nero guy? He's kinda cute, but I wouldn't call her stu-"

"I meant me!" he whined.

"...no, really, where is he?" she said with a smirk.

"Dude, I think she's raggin' on ya," interjected Brick.

"What? No way. This dish is simmering, and all she needs is a Dash of Baxter."

"That doesn't make sense," said Kwan.

"It doesn't have to, I'm a hot stud!"

"Look," said the girl. "I've kinda got more important things on my plate than getting hit on by fourteen-year-olds."

"I'll be fifteen in less than a year!" the quarterback tried to correct.

"Look, you wouldn't happen to know a Sam Manson, would you?" asked the girl?

"Why would you wanna hang out with THAT loser for?"

The girl glared. "She's my cousin."

"Ewww," Slab jeered. "You just hit on nerd-kin!"

"Wha? No way!" yelled Dash. "She tried to trick me by being hot!"

* * *

_These guys are such idiots,_ thought Rhonda_. It's like Harold times six_.

Just then, an alarm went off in the building.

"_Attention, Amity Mall Shoppers. Please remain calm. A ghost attack is in progress. This is not a drill. Do not panic. Please exit the mall in an orderly fashion. Have a nice day!"_

"Hey, I bet it's Inviso-Bill!" the blond idiot who called himself Dash sneered. I hope he shows up, 'cause I've been itchin' to give 'im some lumps."

_I bet this" Inviso-Bill" everyone keeps talking about is connected to that "Danny Phantom" character Dr. Plasmius needs my help with. If they're not the same person, that is... Either way, I gotta go find somewhere to change. Time for a little acting!_

"Eeeek! A ghost!" Rhonda ran off screaming for the exit.

"Heh. Girls. Can't take the pressure," sneered Dash.

* * *

"Can't take the pressure, kid?" Technus laughed derisively as Danny tried to break free of his vicelike grip.

"Maybe... I don't HAVE to!" Danny said, as he touched the ground beneath them. "You don't know this mall like _I_ do... and I know the fountain's right under us!"

"Well, _this_ is an unfortunate turn of events," muttered Technus. Danny phased free of his loosened grip as the scientifically-inclined ghost fell through the now-immaterial floor. His bulky mechanical body landed in the middle of the fountain, causing a massive short-circuit, and forcing Technus's spirit out.

Not one to give up easily, Technus flew at Danny. "You may have wrecked this body, but there's plenty more where that came from!"

"Sorry, Dilbert..." Danny said, whipping out the Fenton Thermos, "But you've got a date with the Ghost Zone."

He uncapped the thermos, sucking the phantom back into captivity. Satisfied, he recapped it.

"I like it when they're easy."

"Funny," a female voice answered. "'Cause I was thinking you must've worked hard to cause this much damage."

"But I didn—" Turning to face the speaker, Danny froze in mid-sentence upon seeing her. The girl... if you could truly call her one... was like no creature he had ever seen. It was hard to tell what was strangest about her... the vivid violet skin, the three (!) luminous jade eyes, the long barbed tail, or the feathery black wings. Most unnerving of all, the girl had not set off his Ghost Sense, so he was dealing with something completely unknown.

"Who... WHAT... are you?" he stammered.

"My name's Genesis, and I'm here to make sure you don't hurt anyone ever again."

* * *

_Earlier..._

_What the hell is my cousin doing here? _was Sam's thought as she exited Sore Subject, and saw the girl in question run past. _I'd better get her outta here... she'd probably freak out if she saw a ghost._

Silently, she followed her relative to one of the service exits. She was about to try to catch up with her when Rhonda suddenly stopped dead. And began to glow.

_What in...?_

Wings and a tail burst out of her back, as her flesh turned violet, and her hands and feet became clawed, and her outfit flowed into some kind of costume.

_That can't be right. If Rhonda was some kind of weremonster, wouldn't it have come up at the last reunion?_

Sam ducked out of sight quickly as the thing that used to be her cousin whooshed past. Knowing that this new development might spell trouble for Danny, she then took off after her.

* * *

_Now..._

"Hey, watch where you stick those claws, Monstretta!" the Ghost Boy wisecracked as he dodged Rhonda's swipes. "You could put my eye out... and I don't HAVE any extras!"

"Hold still!" she shouted as she lashed out with her tail, and was frustrated as her opponent turned immaterial, allowing the appendage to pass through him harmlessly.

"What's the matter? Can't hit an immaterial target?"

"STAY SOLID SO I CAN KICK YOUR BUTT!"

"...I'm guessing that's a no," replied the boy with a smirk as his opponent continent to strike at him fruitlessly. "And you might as well give up, 'cause I can keep this up all da-"

That's when Rhonda let him have a blast from her third eye. The bolt of supernatural energy jolted him back into solidity, leaving him open again. Rhonda took full advantage, her fist slamming into his gut.

_Ooh, that felt good._

She was about to hit him again when she felt something heavy slam into her back, knocking her down...

* * *

"I could've taken her, Sam!" fumed Danny.

"Yeah, I could tell by the way you're still clutching your gut there."

"I'm FINE."

"So am I," said Genesis, picking herself off the floor. "Only, I'm MUCH angrier."

"Great," Danny groaned. "What does it take to hurt you?"

"More than you've got, Dead Boy!" the mutant yelled, diving for him.

"Oh, for the love of... Rhonda, knock it off," said Sam, in exasperation.

Genesis froze in mid-attack. "What'd you just call me?"

"I saw you change in the service corridor, okay? I know it's you."

"...well, that's just great, Sam. I had a nice secret identity there..."

"Oh, knock it off."

Danny looked at the two of them, quizzically. "You two know each other?"

"Danny, this is my cousin Rhonda Lloyd, from Hillwood. Rhonda, this is Danny Phantom. Who is NOT evil."

"And... you knew your cousin was a monster when?"

"Okay, first of all... I'm NOT a monster. I'm a Dark Angel... half-demon, half-angel, with a human soul. And second, I'm gonna need a lot of convincing that you're NOT evil."

Danny sighed. "I just went through this whole thing with Val... OK. For one thing, if I was evil, I'd be trying to kill you!"

Rhonda scowled. "What makes you think you CAN?"

_Yep, just like Val. _"Give the attitude a rest, okay? It's really getting irritating. Look... I'm gonna go out on a limb just so that we can get past this lame posturing."

_I hope this doesn't come back to bite me, _Danny thought as he triggered the change again. Twin rings of light traversed his body from the middle, transforming ectoplasm to flesh, white hair to black, and green eyes to blue.

"There. Okay? I'm just a normal kid. I'm not some kind of evil ghost mastermind."

Rhonda nodded, the closed her eyes. Her wings and tail were reabsorbed into her body, her hands, feet, and ears reverted to a normal human shape, her third eye sealed up, her skin faded to its usual Caucasian hue, and her clothing flowed back into what she had been wearing originally.

"Sorry I don't know how to do that cool double-ring effect, but you get the basic idea," she said. Danny could now definitely see the resemblance between the two girls... for one, they both had the same enchanting violet eyes.

_Yikes, enchanting eyes? On Sam? Where'd THAT come from?_

The truth was, while Danny still thought of Sam mainly as his best friend, lately, more and more, he'd found himself noticing little things about her... like, yes, those eyes. Everyone had always mentally paired the two of them up as a couple... and lately, Danny was wondering whether that might be such a bad thing.

Danny's momentary reverie was cut short as Tucker arrived, out of breath. "I really gotta start working out," the gawky youth panted. "What'd I miss?"

"Danny's not evil," said Rhonda.

"Oh, that's good to know. Who are you, and what are you doing tonight?" he asked hopefully.

'This is Sam's cousin, and our fellow supernatural butt-kicker," answered Danny. "Rhonda Lloyd, Tucker Foley."

"Charmed," the girl said, extending her hand to the newcomer.

"Look," said Sam, "we obviously have a lot to discuss... let's go someplace where we can talk."

* * *

_This place is aptly named, _thought Rhonda as she poked at the unappetizing bun-enshrouded disk of ground animal substance – calling it "beef" would probably be wishful thinking – that sat on the tray in front of her.

"...so... lemme get this straight... the guy who saved my life is really a supervillain?"

"He's probably the one who put you in danger in the first place, just so he could make himself out to be the hero by rescuing you!" Danny angrily replied, his fist punctuating the last word loudly on the table.

"You've been had, Rhonda," added Sam. "Happens to the best of us."

"Yeah, well, I'd like to give him a piece of my mind. And my claws."

Her cell went off. "It's probably my mom, checking in. I'll just take this, if you don't mind." She flipped the tiny device open. "Hello?"

"_Greetings, Genesis. I trust all has gone well?"_

_It's Vlad, _mouthed Rhonda to the others, who snapped to attention. She raised the volume enough so they could make out what he was saying.. "How did you get this number? It isn't listed in any directory anywhere!"

"_I have my ways. Have you defeated the Ghost Boy yet?"_

Danny quickly scrawled "SAY YES" on a napkin.

"He's lying at my feet right now," answered Rhonda.

"_Excellent," _answered Plasmius. _"Bring him to the graveyard. I will meet you there and perform the ritual to dispatch him to his... eternal reward."_

"Okay," answered Rhonda, shutting the phone off.

"He's planning to turn on you once you turn me in, y'know," commented Danny.

"Well, _duh,_" answered Rhonda. "But once we get there, the two of us can double-team him."

"Just what I was thinking," agreed Danny. "Partners?"

"Partners!"

* * *

_I didn't think she'd defeat him at all, let alone this quickly or easily, _thought Vlad. _But no matter. The bit of insurance I brought along will tie up THAT loose end. _He pattes the device in its holster.

Off in the distance, he could already see a tiny winged shape approaching, resolving into the violet demonoid as it grew closer. _That's it... bring him to me..._

"Well, here's the ghost boy, as you asked," Rhonda said, depositing him at his feet. "Are we done?"

"Oh, yes," answered Vlad with a sneer, as he whipped out the device. "_We _most certainly are."

His thumb hit the switch.

* * *

Danny opened his eyes just as Vlad activated the device. A web of strange, violent energy engulfed but himself and Rhonda, causing the two of them to writhe in pain. The web grew brighter and brighter, forcing Danny to avert his eyes.

Finally, it stopped. Danny watched as Rhonda, now once again fully human, collapsed to the floor.

"Well, well, well... it seems my little badger has a bit of _possum _in him as well."

He turned toward Vlad, and his jaw dropped in shock.

For Vlad now loomed over him, literally bursting with power. His cape had been replaced by a massive pair of wings, a barbed tail writhed at the base of his spine, and his hands and feet now sported razor-sharp talons.

Three fire-red eyes turned their baleful gaze toward him.

"So... what do you think of my new look, Daniel?" the newly-minted ghost/angel/demon hybrid asked with a malevolent grin. "Do you think it's really... _me_?"

_Ohhhhh, SHIT._

_TO BE CONTINUED..._


	7. Power Play

_OK, before we get underway, time for shoutouts:_

_Number6: Glad you like my idea of Sam and Rhonda being related, I thought that'd make things interesting. Sam's gonna be playing a big role in this chapter as we learn that Rhonda ain't the only one in the family with supernatural connections. And I'm not much of a shipper, but damn if Danny and Sam aren't made for each other. And as to your other question, no, that's not our Harold. Why would he be in a mall in Amity Park?_

_Demile: Always a pleasure to know you're enjoying my story!_

_Sneasel: Actually, I think I'm gonna kill off Rhonda and Danny and change the name of the series to VladGenesis. _

_Hello?_

_I was just kidding!_

_sends paramedics to Sneasel's house_

_Acosta: Wow, I think these may be the longest reviews I've ever gotten. Thanks for all the insightful criticism, I always like that. As for your questions: Rhonda could definitely use a love life, and Harold is probably a front-runner; as to the secret identity thing, the monks used their media connections to make sure Rhonda's name never got into the papers or on TV, and her friends have kept her secret diligently, so, no, the average man on the street does not know Rhonda is Genesis. _

_As for your crossover suggestions... I'm not a big fan of _All Grown Up, _so you won't be very likely to see any of those characters here. I've never even heard of _Martin Mystery, _so forget that. MLAATR has one big problem in that it's set in the 2070s, but hey, anything's possible with time travel._

_As for a trip to Dimmsdale? _

_remains suspiciously silent_

_Oh, and this chapter got longer than I thought it'd be, so I'll be finishing this crossover next chapter._

Chapter 7: Power Play

"So... what do you think of my new look, Daniel? Do you think it's really... _me_?"

Vlad's mocking laughter echoed throughout the graveyard. Danny looked up at his transformed arch-nemesis. Vlad had always had an intimidating appearance, but now, his normal features had been combined with Rhonda's demonic and angelic aspects; now, he was truly a monster.

"That foolish girl... she didn't know what she was, what glorious power was contained within her. She could barely tap a fraction of what she had. This whole planet could have been hers. But now, it will be MINE."

He held out the device, the one he had used to steal Rhonda's powers. "Recognize this, Daniel? Of course you don't. It's not the latest CD or video game. This, child, is the Plasmius Demoncatcher. It's based on your parents' own designs for their so-called 'Ghost-catcher', only this version is capable of draining any form of supernatural power. Such as the celestial essences that made Genesis what she was. And to make sure they STAY drained..." He crushed the device in his taloned hand as if it was a paper cup and unceremoniously tossed it aside.

"You won't get away with this!" Danny transformed, and launched himself at Vlad without warning, delivering the strongest punch he could to his face. Without even blinking, Vlad intercepted his fist and let fly with his own, knocking Danny into the wall of a nearby mausoleum. Danny was barely able to turn intangible before splattering all over the tomb.

"Honestly, Daniel... trying to surprise me is pointless. I have Genesis's telepathy, her speed, and her reflexes, combined with my own vast intellect. Once, there was a chance that one day you could CONCEIVABLY be a threat to me. But now?" His third eye began to glow like a stoplight, preparing to unleash its fury.

"Now, I am a GOD."

* * *

"_Wake up. C'mon, wake up."_

Oblivion gave way to a pounding headache and blurry vision. Slowly, the hazy blobs before Rhonda's eyes resolved into a young bespectacled African-American teen in a yellow sweatshirt and red beret.

"Are you with us?"

"Mmmm-hmmmm... back t'sleep..."

Tucker shook her back to wakefulness. "This isn't the time for that! Vlad's beating the tar out of Danny... and he's using YOUR powers to do it!"

No wonder it felt like half her organs had been ripped out. The demonic and angelic essences that were part of her – that had _been _part of her since birth – were gone, leaving her feeling as though she'd been hollowed out like a cantaloupe at a catering hall.

She managed to drag herself to her feet, though it wasn't easy. Her body just wanted collapse into a useless pile of jelly. "How..."

"He pointed some kind of device at you... about forty-five seconds of special effects later, you're Miss Normal-Pants and he's sporting your designer mutations. I gotta say... wings, tail and third eye on you? Kinda hot. Wings, tail and third eye on him? Kinda _not._"

"Where's... he... now?" Rhonda braced herself against a tombstone as her legs almost gave out again.

"Over by the Technicolor fireworks." Tucker pointed over to the far end of the cemetery. "Danny's been trying to lead him away from you."

"I... I need..."

"You _need _to let us get you to safety, that's what you need."

"'Us?'" Tucker was the only one near her.

"Yeah, me and –" he paused, looked around, and groaned. "Sam. Of COURSE she wandered off. I told her to stay here, but she wandered off." Another groan. "Just great."

* * *

The power. The sweet, delicious, intoxicating _power._

Vlad Plasmius—no, Vlad Diabolus... yes, much better -- thought he'd been strong before, but now the power of Heaven and Hell themselves coursed through his ectoplasmic veins. His hands could rend steel like paper; his wings carried him faster than ghostly flight ever could; his new eyes could tell a fly's gender at a thousand feet, and his new ears hear its footsteps.

And STILL the _boy _resisted.

"Fall, already!" demanded Vlad, hurling another bolt of infernal energy at Danny.

"Yeah... where _does _the summer go?" riposted Danny, staggering once again to his feet.

Vlad growled, and in the blink of an eye was delivering a fist directly into Danny's face. "Swear your loyalty to me, damn you!"

Danny wiped a trickle of green ectoplasmic blood from his split lip. "See, it's a pun. You want me to fall, like the action..."

"I KNOW WHAT A PUN IS, YOU SIMPLETON!" screamed the ghost/angel/demon as delivered a kick to Danny's solar plexus. The ghost boy collapsed, wheezing. "I'll make this easy for you. All you need to say is three simple words. 'I... surrender... Master.'"

Danny spat more blood. "I have three words for you. Two of them are 'Go' and 'yourself.' Wanna guess the third?"

"Very well." Vlad grabbed him by the neck. "Now, you might feel a bit of a sting."

Suddenly, a rock struck him in the back of the head. Of course, it didn't hurt in the slightest, but the sheer impertinence of the act irritated Vlad into dropping Danny and turning to face his assailant.

"Leave him alone, you son of a bitch."

"Oh... of course. The _girlfriend._"

"I'm not his—"

"She's not my—"

"—girlfriend!" the two finished in unison.

"Oh, _please,_" sneered the villain. "He permeates your every thought. You crave the sight of him, the sound of his voice, his very presence. You need him, and you want more than anything for him to need you back. But he's oblivious. His eyes are always on someone else. And it just tears your heart out. Believe me... I KNOW how it feels. But don't worry..."

He took aim at her, hands glowing with energy.

"I'll spare you the pain of watching him die... and the agony of living without him."

"STOP!"

He looked back over his shoulder. "Yes, Daniel?"

He struggled to get the words out. "I... surrender."

"Say it. Say the third word."

The child, utterly defeated, hung his head.

"Don't do it, Danny... please, don't," Sam pleaded, tears welling.

The last word was barely a whisper.

"Master."

"See?" Vlad lowered his hands, smiling in a mockery of parental pride. "I knew you'd make the right choice, son."

He took Danny's hand, and the two vanished.

* * *

Sam stood there, in shock, as they disappeared.

_Great job, _she thought. _I let him get away. Why am I so damned useless? _

Of course, logically she knew there was nothing she could have done, but still... she felt like a complete waste of space.

After a moment, she became aware of someone tugging at her sleeve. She turned to see Tucker, supporting a weak-looking Rhonda.

"C'mon... we've gotta go."

"I let him get away."

"Sam, he had Danny's powers AND Rhonda's... there's nothing you could do."

"I know," Sam sighed. "I can never do anything. I mean, Danny has the powers, you have the brains... what do I bring to the party?"

Tucker shrugged. "I kinda always thought of you as our moral center. You keep us honest and stuff."

"I know, but what good is that in a fight? I just feel... so... WORTHLESS!"

It was like a bomb had gone off. Tucker and Rhonda founds themselves hurled backward as Sam's anger exploded outward in a wave of concussive force.

Tucker picked himself and Rhonda up. "Sam! What the heck did you just do?"

"I... I'm not sure!" sputtered Sam, who had developed a white streak in her hair. "It's like my anger just spontaneously turned into power!"

She stared at her still crackling hands.

"I don't know what this is... but it's gonna bring Danny back to m- to us, I know it."

* * *

"Well, Daniel... what do you think of your new home?" asked Vlad, with a magnanimous sweep of his hand. "It's the best bedroom in the place, with everything a young villain-in-training could ever want."

"I'd like it a lot better if I wasn't _shackled_," grumbled Danny, straining against his glowing restraints.

"Oh, don't worry... the Equalizers are merely a precaution to ensure that you don't try to pull something stupid, like, say, double-crossing me and using your ghost powers to escape while my back is turned. Don't tell me the thought had never crossed your mind, Daniel. I can READ your thoughts at will, I know it has."

"Well, aren't you just wonderful," muttered Danny.

"Yes... yes I am," replied Vlad without a hint of irony. "I'll leave you to get settled... and don't try anything stupid. Because I _will _know."

With that, Vlad vanished, leaving Danny alone to ponder his fate. And other things as well.

_He was just playing with my mind. Right? I mean... Sam, in love with me? That's ridiculous. No possible way. We've been friends since kindergarten. In all that time, she would've shown some kind of sign... _

_...like pretending to make out with me as a diversion when there were about a million other things she could've done... _

_...or seething with anger whenever I mention Paulina..._

_...or after Ember's attack, when she was a little too reluctant to let go of my hand..._

"I am such an _idiot! _What's _wrong _with me? Why didn't I see it?"

That tore it. He _had _to get out of this. If for no other reason, then to find out the truth.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in Amity Park...

"I think there's a chance I MIGHT be able to fix it."

Tucker spoke of the crushed lump of circuitry that now sat on the worktable in the Fentons' laboratory. They had retreated there after the debacle in the cemetery to plan their next move.

"Right... and by the time you do, we'll able to rescue Danny just in time for our first Social Security check," commented Sam. She was now levitating, cross-legged, in the middle of the lab, trying to generate lightning between her fingers.

"Oh, and you're doing SO much," retorted Tucker.

"For your information, Tucker, I'm trying to figure out what powers I have, because, right now, my magic's the best weapon we have against Vlad."

"Either that, or one of these," Rhonda cut in, hefting a Fenton-zooka. She was now clad in one of Maddie Fenton's blue jumpsuits, and laden with other bits of technology.

"Wow, you definitely fill that out," said Tucker admiringly. "I'd put one on myself, but I'm a slim and Mr. Fenton's kind of an extra-extra-husky."

"Yeah... I figured that without my powers, these goodies would make up the difference. I still don't know how we're gonna get to Wisconsin..."

"That's where _this _baby comes in." Tucker hit a button, opening a hidden panel in the lab.

"The Fenton Flyer? Are you sure that thing's up to the trip?"

"Hey, I've flown it before, Sam, remember?"

"Yeah, but that was the Ghost Zone... you couldn't crash into anything. And I'm not exactly loaded with confidence that you won't do it this ti-"

"What are you doing down here?"

The three looked up at the red-haired intruder, who stared down at them with an irritated expression.

"Oh, um, hi, Jazz... we're working on a school project, and-"

"And why is Sam floating? And who's THAT, and why has she stolen my mom's clothes?"

"We are so busted," muttered Rhonda.

"This has something to do with Danny, doesn't it?"

"Uh, yeah," answered Tucker. "See, Danny's birthday is coming up, and we want to surprise him with-"

"It's okay. I KNOW about Danny and his 'after-school project.' I HAVE known for months. So you can tell me the truth."

"OK," replied Tucker. "Rhonda, I guess you should start..."

"Right. OK... my name is Rhonda Lloyd, and I'm Sam's cousin from Hillwood. I'm also a part-time superhero named Genesis. Yesterday, a creature called the Skullker attacked me and nearly killed me, but a man calling himself 'Doctor Plasmius' defeated him and told me that an evil ghost named 'Danny Phantom' had been the one who sent him. I, of course, knowing no better, took the bait and came here looking for him."

"So," continued Tucker, "she showed up at the mall looking for Danny, who, at the time, was fighting a real headcase named Technus, and the two of them had one of those superhero-misunderstanding fights, but Sam was able to set both of them straight."

Sam took over, continuing "We figured out that Plasmius wanted us to either destroy each other, or to hurt each other so badly that he'd show up and make Danny pledge undying loyalty to him to save himself. We decided to set up a sting, so Rhonda pretended to have defeated Danny and brought him to Plasmius. But before they could take him down, Plasmius zapped Rhonda with a device that transferred her powers to him. Danny tried to stop him, but Plasmius beat him up really badly. When I showed up, Plasmius threatened to kill me, but Danny gave himself up to save my life." By the time Sam had finished, she was fighting back tears.

"And... the floating?" asked Jazz, trying to assimilate all the information she'd been fed.

"Sam's ancestor was a witch and Sam inherited her magic powers," answered Rhonda.

"...right. Obviously."

"So..." prompted Sam.

"So... we'd better get started if we wanna get to Wisconsin," answered Jazz. "Oh, and... _I'm _driving."

"Wait..." Tucker interjected. "There's one more person I think we're gonna need on this mission. I don't know if she's going to want to come, but we're gonna need everyone we can get."

"Oh, _hell _no," objected Sam. "There is no possible way..."

* * *

"...I would EVER help you!" growled Valerie Gray.

"Oh, c'mon... I thought you were done with your whole 'kill the Ghost Boy' vendetta," replied Tucker.

"No... I've _temporarily_ decided to spare him. That doesn't mean I'm gonna go out of my way to save his afterlife!"

"Look... if it was up to me, we wouldn't even have bothered asking you," said Sam, "but the fate of the world depends on this mission, and like it or not – and I _don't_ – you've got experience fighting ghosts, and we need it."

"Forget it, Vampira," she said. "I'm not wasting my time with this fool's errand of yours."

Her eyes glowing violet with anger, Sam grabbed Val by the shoulders. "LISTEN to me, bitch! Vlad Plasmius is dangerous and he has Danny and you're GOING, okay?"

Something changed in Val's eyes. "Vlad?" she asked, comfused. "Is... he from Wisconsin?"

"Yeah... how'd you know?"

"He's the guy who's supplying me with the equipment I've been using."

"Val," Jazz said, "you've been played. Vlad's just been using you to get at his enemies!"

"But... I thought I was supposed to be the good guy!"

"You couldn't have known," Rhonda said.

"Right... Who ARE you?" asked Val, becoming about the fifth person to ask that question today.

"We'll explain everything on the way... you in or not?"

Val sighed.

"Yeah, but not because I care. It's because I _don't like being used._"

_The pact is sealed. The mission is underway. To be concluded next chapter!_


	8. Vlad's Stationary Castle

_Acosta: Yeah, I definitely get a Spider-Man vibe from Danny, especially now that he's getting lots of bad press._

_Fubuki's Wraph: Thanks!_

_Alberto: Whoa! Where to begin? Y'know, when I said Acosta's reviews were the longest I ever got, I didn't mean for it to be a challenge to my other reviewers! Well, I'll try to answer all your points. If I miss any, feel free to hunt me down like a dog._

_First... this is NOT the end of the series, just the end of the Rhondagenesis II/Danny Phantom crossover._

_I know what Martin Mystery is now... they've started airing it on Nick USA. Haven't really seen a full episode yet, though._

_Oh, crap... I really DID destroy the romantic tension, didn't I? Oh well. I don't have to stick to continuity._

_Vlad's definitely motivated by a strange combination of ego and insecurity... that's why it was so much fun writing him._

_Don't worry. The current crossover was pretty crowded, so Rhonda kinda got a little lost in the shuffle. I'm not surprised you didn't have much to say about her. And yes, she filled out that blue jumpsuit nicely. :-P_

_Funny you should mention Curly, he said cryptically..._

_Lila was originally supposed to be the big villain for this series, but the more I've plotted this out, the more I realize I'd rather go in another direction with her, so stay tuned! We'll be seeing more of her next chapter._

_I hope this wasn't too long of a wait!_

_CONTINUITY NOTE: This story takes place after "Memory Blank", so just assume that Danny has his new emblem, even though I never mention it._

Chapter 8: Vlad's Stationary Castle

"Ladies and gentleman, we've reached our cruising altitude. Thank you for flying Fenton Air."

The Fenton Flyer flew onward toward its destination. Sam didn't know which was more annoying... Jazz's lame attempts at humor, Rhonda's nervous foot-tapping, or Tucker humming Jim Morrisson's "The End".

"Could you stop that?" she demanded of the last.

"Humming helps me concentrate, okay? I think I've almost figured out how to fix this power-stealymahoozits." He continued to tinker with the battered gizmo, though it was anyone's guess if he actually knew what he was doing.

Jazz glanced back. She and Sam were both now wearing the same style of blue jumpsuit that Rhonda had "liberated". Tucker had kept to his civvies, and Val opted to use her own gear.

"OK," she said. "Now, he's gonna definitely have monsters guarding the place. So—"

"Hold up, Red!" interrupted Val. "Who put you in charge?"

"I'm the oldest and most intelligent, so I naturally—"

"I never agreed to take your orders, okay?"

"Could you BOTH shut up?" interrupted Sam. "If you don't knock it off, I'll turn you both into _toads_!"

Both clammed up.

"Can you really do that?" whispered Rhonda.

"Do you really want to know?"

* * *

Danny walked down the darkened path. The only illumination was provided by dimly-flickering candles.

"Lesson 1," came the voice looming in the darkness. "A threat can come from anywhere."

Suddenly, the oppressive shadows seemed to lunge for him. Danny ducked and rolled in anticipation of their attack... but none came.

"Lesson 2: An attack can come at any time."

A deep red blast of energy came from nowhere. Danny went intangible to avoid it, only to feel something grab him from behind.

"Lesson 3: NEVER, EVER let your guard down."

Danny felt himself forced back to full solidity. He was hurled down to the floor. Sore, he looked up at his new (and very much unwanted) mentor.

"You clearly haven't learned Lesson 3."

"I guess this is yet another course I'm getting a C in, huh?"

"Son... "

"Don't EVER call me that!" snapped Danny. "I may be your student-"

"I prefer the term 'apprentice'"

"Fine, Donald... 'apprentice'... but that doesn't mean you're ever gonna replace my dad."

"Replace? No... believe me, HIS niche is one I don't desire to fill. I simply wish to take everything he has. And I've already started with you... son."

That tore it. Danny lunged at Vlad...

And collapsed in agony as Vlad activated his collar, sending searing bolts of pain through his ectoplasmic nervous system.

"As you can see... Lesson 3 is something I took to heart very early on.

He grinned maliciously.

"Now... shall we continue?"

* * *

"We're here," announced Jazz.

The quintet disembarked. Off in the distance, Vlad's castle loomed, as forbidding as a gothic castle done up in Packers gold and green and formerly belonging to a cheese mogul could be.

"Did we have to park so far away?" groused Rhonda.

"What's the matter, demon girl misses her wings?" chided Val.

"Shut UP, Val," muttered Jazz. "We're parked here because Vlad's almost certain to have an early warning system in his castle, so we need the element of surprise. That's also why your jet-board's off-limits."

"Let's just GO," Sam whined, breaking into a run. "Danny's in trouble!"

"Get back here!" demanded Jazz. "We're sticking together, understand? Everyone watches everyone else's back, and NOBODY goes off half-cocked! Are we CLEAR?"

"Uh-huh."

"Yeah."

"Crystal."

Everyone looked at Val.

"Okay, FINE! Geez, you try to kill someone a few times and they NEVER let you forget it!"

* * *

After an hour, they finally arrived.

"Look sharp, everyone... he's bound to have something interesting guarding the place."

"Like what," cracked Tucker, "some kinda Kraken like in "Fellowship", or something?"

A tentacle lashed out of the water and grabbed him by the ankle, yanking him into the air.

"Or something," said Sam.

"Hold still!" Val took aim, blasting the tentacle. It released Tucker, dropping him into Val's arms.

"Wow... I guess you DO care," Tucker said, winking.

"Oh, forget you," Val said, dropping him on the ground.

"Oh yeah," the bespectacled teen said to himself. "She definitely likes me."

* * *

"Lesson #17: When faced with a Type 3 Mandagox demon, you must generate a sub-ether pulse along the theta frequency—PAY ATTENTION!"

Danny yawned. Vlad had set up a mock classroom and was lecturing at him on and on about various arcane classes of supernatural creatures, as if any of it meant anything.

"I'm sorry... haven't slept in a while, okay? What was it again? Mango demon?"

"No WONDER we're not getting anywhere," grumbled Vlad. "Your attention span has no doubt been eroded by years of music videos and sugared cereal. You must learn to LEARN, Daniel."

_Or maybe you're just a crappy teacher, _thought Danny. _I've gotten a whole new appreciation for Lancer._

"Now, as I was saying..."

Suddenly, Vlad froze up. Then, a grin began to creep across his face. Danny was reminded of nothing as much as _The Grinch who Stole Christmas._

_This can NOT be good._

"Why, Daniel..." he said, the grin still widening, "it seems we have guests."

* * *

"Well, that was a little to close for comfort", said Jazz as they approached the front door. "Any luck on your end, Tucker?"

The beret-clad teen shrugged. "The good news is, I think it might actually work. The bad news is... Rhonda's going to have to go right up to him and make physical contact between him, herself, and the machine."

"Wonderful," sighed Rhonda. "I'm gonna die."

"Yeah... that's something else that could happen."

"Well, it's nice to know we can _really_ depend on you," sneered Val.

"Shut UP, Val," snapped Rhonda. "It's more than YOU'VE done."

"Well, at least I'm doing SOMETHING, Princess. If it wasn't for YOU, we wouldn't even be in this mess!"

"Shut u-" started Sam, but she was cut off.

"And another thing... I'm sick of people telling me to shut up!"

"WHAT PART OF KNOCK IT OFF DON"T YOU UNDERSTAND?" yelled a furious Jazz. "That's it! Next person who starts an argument gets sent back! Clear?"

"Fine."

"Fine."

"Fine."

"Well, good. Now, first thing we need to do is figure out a way to get in."

Sam hurled a ball of fire at the door, instantly incinerating it.

"How's that?"

"That'll do. It's a good thing he decided to rebuild the place exactly as it was, and not, say, put in steel doors."

"Ah, yes..." came a voice from the top of the stairs. Vlad teleported into view, floating, an air of arrogance coloring his expression. "An oversight I shall rectify. But for now, I'll settle for disposing of you."

"Bring it, Nosferatu!" shouted Sam, her eyes glowing cherry-red with anger, her fists pulsing with energy. She hurled a blast of lightning at Vlad, knocking him backward.

"Hmm. This is new and unexpected," remarked Vlad, puzzled. "You can actually hurt me. Fighting you might provide me with some welcome amusement. But... no. I don't think I'll be sullying my hands with you."

At a snap of his fingers swarms of ghostly creatures appeared, from shapeless blobs of ectoplasm to such strange creatures as flying octopi and Shriner vultures, to bizarre mutated wildlife. And all of them looked ready to rip them apart.

"Finish them," he commanded. "And try not to make it too messy, these oriental rugs are MURDER to clean."

* * *

Over the next... actually, the lost track of time. However long that period was, though, it was spent in frenzied combat.

Making use of their "borrowed" arsenal, the group slowly managed to make a dent in the seemingly endless army of spectral manifestations. One by one, the ghosts were taken out. Here, a Fenton Ghost-Grenade took out an Ectopus; there, Rhonda's Fenton-zooka vaporized a two-headed bear; elsewhere, Jazz used the Fenton Ghost-Peeler shredded a gelatinous monster before it could fangoriously devour Tucker.

Now, one of those weird vulture guys was dive-bombing the ex-dark angel. "Hope you won't miss those purple eyes too much, 'cause we're gonna have 'em for cufflinks!" the Yiddish-accented creature cackled, just before a blast dispersed it.

"Borscht-belt vultures. Now I've seen everything," she quipped. "Thanks, Val!"

"Ain't no thing," she replied. "I'm not the jerk everyone thinks I am, okay?"

"Guys... I think we're actually getting somewhere!" shouted Sam as she dispersed another ghost with a mini-tornado.

"See? All we had to do was keep watching each others' backs!" shot back Jazz as the Fenton Ghost Weasel sucked up a mutant mole.

Tucker, splattering the last of the mutant rabbits with the Jack o' Nine Tails, pointed upward. "Looks like there's a clear path..." He tossed the repaired Plasmius Demoncatcher at Rhonda. "Go for it... and remember, you only have one shot!"

"You never told me THAT!" retorted the raven-haired teen.

"I didn't? Well... I would've gotten to it eventually!"

Rhonda grumbled as she charged up the staircase.

"Someone should go with he-" Sam was already running up the stairs. "I should've known this cooperation stuff wasn't gonna last."

"I'm going too," said Val, hurrying after. "I owe Palpatine a thrashing for using me as his thug!"

"Sure, no problem," Jazz replied sarcastically. "We can handle a few dozen vicious spirits, no sweat."

* * *

The three charged down the hall at the top of the stairs.

"Maybe we should take this slower," Rhonda suggested. "There's probably going to be..."

The three stopped short as a distant rumbling noise started, and seemed to get closer. The three flattened themselves against the wall as an enormous steel ball rolled past.

"...booby-traps." she finished.

Panels slid open in the walls... Sam halted the barrage of arrows that were released with two walls of ice. "This'll probably wreck his floors when it melts... but, on the other hand, I don't really care."

The three continued to wind their way through the labyrinthine halls of the castle. Sam levitated her companions over a trap-door to an infinite abyss; Val melted a platoon of animated suits of armor; Rhonda "decapitated" a swinging pendulum with her laser.

In this manner, they finally worked their way to Vlad's personal suite.

"The lion's den," muttered Sam as she got ready to blast the door down.

It opened on its own.

The recently-rechristened Vlad Diavolus floated superciliously, wings outstretched, a sneer of utter superiority on his face. It was the look of someone who knew that he was in absolutely no danger, the look of a wild panther finding itself cornered by baby rabbits.

"Well, well... high marks for getting this far," Vlad smugly remarked. "Unfortunately... this is it for you." He floated forward. "You know, I expected you to come, Samantha... and you as well, Rhonda. But Valerie... Valerie, Valerie, Valerie. What a disappointment you've become. I gave you everything you needed to bring down the ghost boy, and you've not only failed me, here you are about to reward my kindness with betrayal. Such a waste."

"Whatever, Dracula," the neophyte ghost hunter dismissively said as she took aim at the villain.

"Oh, by all means... have yourself a free shot."

Val pulled the trigger.

Nothing happened.

"What's the matter with this stupid thing?" she complained.

"Idiot!" Vlad snapped, his pomposity taking control. "Did you really think I'd be stupid enough to give you weapons that could be used against me? And who the hell are YOU!"

The three teens' heads snapped around to regard the individual he now addressed, a pimple-faced boy of about seventeen clad in a Path-Rite uniform.

"I'm an errand boy sent by grocery clerks to pick up the check," the squeaky-voiced teen replied.

"Ugghh," groaned Vlad. "Here," he said, digging for his wallet. "I believe I owe about $75.00, correct?" He handed over a hundred. "Keep the change."

"Gee, thanks, Mr. Freaky Three-Eyed Monster!" the teen squeaked as he ran off.

"See? I'm not entirely evil. Now then... I believe you three were about to be annihilated."

The bolt of violet lightning struck him dead-center in the solar plexus. Sam floated forward, eyes glowing.

"That's ONE interpretation..."

* * *

"I can't believe it," Tucker gasped. "We... actually beat them all?"

"You were worried?" remarked Jazz.

"Well... yeah. Hence the 'I can't believe it.' So... now what?"

"Now, we're free to look for Danny. And to hope that the others made it."

"...and that the booby traps that we KNOW are there still haven't been reset?"

"That too. C'mon."

* * *

"Let me tell you a story, Vlad. 450 years ago, there was a young woman by the name of Agatha Stockwell. She was accused of being a witch, without a shred of evidence. And of course, because society can't stand the thought of powerful, independent women, she was sentenced to death."

Purple lightning continued to bombard Vlad, forcing him to back up. He threw up one of his shields, but it was too little, too late... the weak barrier shattered almost immediately.

"But," continued Sam, "for once the puritans were actually right. Agatha WAS a witch... a very powerful one, capable of tapping into the forces of nature at will without the need for spells or rituals. And so, she escaped from the stake and fled west, where she joined the Mohawk tribe and became its shaman. She was renamed Violet Storm."

"And she lived happily ever after, is there a point to this little fairy tale?" Vlad forced out through gritted teeth, still holding on under bombardment.

"The _point _is that, after four centuries, her powers surfaced again. In ME."

_Just a little more, _thought Vlad...

Suddenly, he phased through the floor and popped up again behind Sam. A blast from his third eye knocked her to the ground.

"Honestly, your tactics are a joke. You've only hurt me marginally, AND you've given me a chance to gauge your powers. So, now... why don't we start the fight for real. Oh, and just to keep our friends here busy..."

For a second, Vlad seemed to get wider... then, he split into two identical versions of himself. One of them phased into Valerie, whose eyes glowed red for a moment...

"Hmm... interesting. I wouldn't want to take up permanent residence in here, but it'll make a nice summer home."

She pulled out her weapon and advanced on Rhonda.

"And now..." said the remaining Vlad, "Let's see what you're really capable of."

* * *

Danny paced back and forth, the walls of his room growing more oppressive with each passing minute.

Vlad had deactivated his powers before leaving, and turned on the safeties that kept him from trying to leave. Now, if he so much as tried to take a step out of the room, the collar would immediately paralyze him, and he'd be stuck that way until Vlad returned to release him.

"Jerk. Could've at least left me some magazines..."

Now the boredom was making him hallucinate. He could've sworn that was Jazz running toward him...

"You're safe!" the halucination shouted in relief, and did something that Danny was pretty sure hallucinations couldn't do... it hugged him."

"Jazz? Is that... why... how..."

"Shhh... c'mon, we're getting out of here."

"How did—"

"It's okay. I know all about your ghost powers. I have for months now. I was just waiting for you to tell me yourself... but, right now, Vlad's kinda forced my hand. Now, c'mon."

"I can't leave. This stupid collar'll paralyze me if I step out of the room."

"Oh... well, I hope Tucker can fix that." She tapped her foot. "Where IS he, anyway?"

"Tucker's here?"

"_Everyone's _here, Danny."

Tucker finally arrived, exhausted. "No doubt about it," he panted, "I really, REALLY need to start working out."

"Can you get the collar off Danny?"

"Mess around with technology that I don't know anything about and one wrong move will blow his head off? Sure. No problem."

He took a deep breath and got to work.

"Piece... of... cake."

* * *

Sam dodged as best as she could between the blasts of energy fired from nearly every available part of Vlad's hybrid body.

"You can't run forever, girl," he taunted. "Sooner or later, you WILL get tired."

_He's right, _she realized. _I need to try something new, something he hasn't seen before..._

Grabbing onto the weak currents of air drifting through the castle turret windows, she accelerated them, whipping them up into a miniature tornado spout. Vlad's outstretched wings caught the currents like a pair of sails, forcing him into a spin. Sam took advantage of her good fortune, accelerating the tempest even further.

"Bet it's hard controlling that double of yours now!" she jeered.

Sam glanced over to where Val and Rhonda had gotten into a John Woo standoff, blasters leveled at each other. Val suddenly got a dizzy look on her face and keeled over... the Vlad double that had taken her over was yanked out and sucked back into the original.

"You're right," he said. "It's not like either of them can do anything to me anyway. Oh, and guess what I just realized: I can ALSO command wind!" He punctuated his declaration with a counter-vortex of his own, dissipating both wind-funnels.

"All right," he said. "I've had my fun... now it's time to—"

"Hey, Frankenstein... CATCH!"

Something metal hit him.

Danny's restraining collar.

Danny himself, fully powered-up, floated in the archway, ready to deliver a big helping of whoopass.

"Looks like you're outnumbered, Vlad. Wanna give it up?"

"Hardly. I still have more than enough power to-"

"No, you don't!"

It was the girl. The one who he'd taken his new powers from... somehow, she had managed to get near him while he was distracted. Near enough to touch a crude-looking device to his uncovered foot. It looked familiar somehow—

There was a searing jolt of pain, and then darkness.

* * *

Rhonda's eyes slowly opened.

Where was she?

She remembered she'd finally had a clear shot at Vlad. She touched the device to him, there was some kind of feedback, and now she was waking up with an acute soreness in her...

..wings?

"It... worked?"

"Hey, she's awake! Yeah, it worked," came Tucker's voice next to her.

She looked around her. They were back in the Fenton Flyer. She'd been stretched out over the rear seat.

"What about..."

"Vlad? Don't worry. He won't be bothering us for a while."

* * *

When he finally came to, Vlad found himself in a rather precarious position.

Firstly, he was bound, had and foot.

Second, he had been suspended from a tree branch over his moat. Just out of reach of the Ghost Kraken.

Third, someone had duct-taped an active Plasmius-Maximus to his back, which put the kibosh on his using his powers to escape.

And, finally... he'd just realized that he hadn't fed the Kraken in days.

_Well... the batteries on these things don't last too long, so I'm sure they'll wear out in time. I'll be fine, as long as the tree limb—_

crack

_--holds...

* * *

_

"I'm not sure I like Valerie knowing my secret," Danny said as the Flyer eased into its hangar. Rhonda had departed on wing, and Val had been dropped off in Elmerton... after they'd extracted her solemn promise never to tell anyone about Danny's secret.

"We needed her along..." replied Sam. "Besides, Vlad's wronged her, too. And when he gets free, you KNOW he'll be coming after her."

"And what about you, Sam? Are you sure those new powers of yours are safe?"

"Perfectly safe, Danny. I hope you don't mind having a partner from now on."

"Well, um... I.."

"Hey, Jazz, don't we have that thing?" asked Tucker.

"Oh, right, the thing," replied Jazz. "We really have to go." The two hurried out, leaving the two alone.

With each other.

"So, uh... Danny..."

"Yeah?"

"About what Vlad said back there... about how I, uh..."

"Sam, stop. Vlad was just messing with our heads."

"...not entirely, Danny."

"Huh?"

"I... kinda... like you."

Impulsively, she hugged him. Danny's eyes bulged as he realized that everything... _everything_... had just changed.

"Oh boy."

* * *

Rhonda set down on her balcony. It had been an exhausting night. But, at least it was over.

_And it looks like there aren't any side effects from being unmerged and re-merged._

She reached for the lock, only to have her hand pass right through it.

_Okay... maybe one side effect..._

_Next: It's back to business as usual as we find out more about what's up with Lila, Rhonda gets a new romantic interests, supervillainy rears its very, very ugly head at the mall, and we get a surprise visitor!_


	9. Complications

_Editor's note: I kinda lost interest in this for a while, and only recently got the inspiration to continue. I have the basic idea for what happens in the next two chapters, but after that, I need to plot things out. Thanks for waiting. Oh, and I'll be responding to all future signed reviews via PM._

_Acosta: Love interest for Rhonda? Well, this chapter introduces someone who just might fit that niche. As for her new power... well, that may not work out as well as she wants._

_ShiroandFubuki: See last note._

_Number 6: Whoa, another monster review! I'll try to address everything. I don't really see much of a similarity between Helga and Jazz. And yes, teamwork's gonna come hard to this group, but that's what you get with such strong personalities involved. _

_As for Vlad, well, in the words of Danny himself, he's "one seriously crazed-up fruit loop". He believes that Jack Fenton stole the life he should have had, and wants to steal it back from him. _

_Val, as seen in _Reign Storm, _is basically a good person, even though she has a severe grudge problem._

_Glad you loved the kraken._

_Like Kurtz and many other madmen, Vlad's convinced he's the sanest of everyone._

_Agatha Stockwell is an original character (even though she doesn't really appear). Both Mrs. Manson and Brooke Lloyd are distant descendants. _

_Vlad's arrogance is his major weakness; as seen in _Maternal Instincts _and _Secret Weapons, _it often makes him susceptible to being outsmarted. When he's on his game, though, he's nasty._

_As for phantom powers... keep reading._

_Lila? She's got some strange developments coming, as revealed in this chapter._

_And... Curly? Well... I don't wanna give anything away, but we may see him sooner than you think.

* * *

_

Chapter 9: Complications

"What the hell was THAT, Lloyd?"

It had been a month since the Amity Park incident. There'd been some minor crime since then, but nothing Rhonda had not been able to handle, especially with her new ability to phase through solid matter. There hadn't been any other side effects from temporarily losing her powers – no invisibility, no duplication abilities, no sudden flashes of megalomania – all in all, getting a new superpower wasn't a bad outcome.

Her personal life had settled into a routine... school, hanging out with friends, patrolling, cheerleading practice... that last one was where she'd heard this chapter's opening sentence.

"What do you mean, 'what was that,' _Lila_? That was a backflip! You know... part of the routine?"

"Your timing was off, _Rhonda..._ and it's not the first time. Frankly, as captain... I may have to cut you from the team if you don't start pulling your weight."

Lila Sawyer turned, then glanced back grinning maliciously. "Although... I suppose you DO have more than the rest of us to pull..."

Rhonda seethed. "No, you did NOT just call me fat, Sawyer."

"If the jeans DON'T fit, Lloyd..."

_No, _she reminded herself. _Lila's not worth it. I mean... sure, if she was an evil space-alien in disguise... but how likely is that?_

"The rest of you... Bonnie, Miranda, Mandy, Penelope, Mindy... perfect. Hopefully we'll be ready by the time we go to the Dimmsdale meet. If we can get our 'weak link' up to snuff, anyway..."

The other cheerleaders chuckled like a bunch of miniature poodles. Rhonda getting chewed out by Lila was always the highlight of practice.

_Why do I even stay on the team, _Rhonda wondered as she left practice. _Is it really that big a deal if I let that bitch drive me away? I mean... how important is cheerleading, really, in the long run? Is it gonna stop any wars? End world hunger? Cure cancer?_

Lost completely in her thoughts, Rhonda collided head on with someone.

"Ack! Uh, sorry, my fault, I should've been watching where I'm goi-"

"It's all right," a gentle voice said, as she felt someone help her up. She looked into his face... his totally hot face.

_Hello, salty goodness!_

He had black hair, a firm jaw, fine features, piercing blue eyes, and an engaging smile.

_Be mine forever unto eternity, _she thought.

"H-hi..." she said.

"Hi," said he, smiling. Are you okay? It's really my fault, I should've been paying more attention..."

"Oh! No! No, mine! My fault! It's mine..." _I am such an idiot._

"No, no... look, I really should make up for knocking you down like that. Maybe I can buy you dinner or something?"

"No, it's oka-" She stopped herself. _What am I, a moron? The major hottie is asking me out and I'm turning him DOWN? _"Well, if you think you really, have to."

"Sure. My name's Ted, by the way."

"Londa Rhoyd—RHONDA! Rhonda Lloyd!"

"Well... great meeting you, 'Londa'. Pick you up at 7:30 this Saturday?"

"You'll be there! I mean... I'll! Be there."

Ted grinned. "I can't wait. See ya!"

Rhonda stood there in shock for a few moments. Then:

"YES!"

* * *

Lila chuckled to herself. Putting Rhonda in her place was always fun. It was surprising... back in grade school, she'd been the goody-goody and Rhonda had been Queen Bitch... Now they'd switched places. She was on top of the heap. The boys all wanted her, the girls all wanted to be her... well, those that didn't want or want to be Rhonda. Somehow, she'd managed to stay on top of the heap after Lila had ascended... not even associating with her collection of misfits had stopped that.

Still... in the end, only one of them would rule the school. And it was gonna be her.

A sharp pain in her skull knocked her train of thought off. The headaches had started a month ago, and were coming with increasing frequency lately. And they were a constant reminder that she wasn't REALLY Lila Sawyer, and that her time was running out.

It'd been four years since she'd taken this body. Four years as a larva embedded in the human Lila Sawyer's brain. During this time, Zezzarra had sometimes nearly forgotten who she was. And then when she remembered... she wished it wasn't so.

Now, she was nearing the end of her larval state. She'd be recalled, extracted from the human's brain to pupate and evolve into her final form (the human's body, no doubt, would be destroyed). And then, the Kzz'kzzt's ships would descend on this world and make it their own.

The closer the day came, the more Zezzarra wished it would never come. She didn't want to stop being Lila Sawyer. She didn't want to lose her family (family, what a concept... Kzzt had nothing so wonderful), her world, her... life.

Her com went off.

Lila ignored it and headed for class.

* * *

"The drone does not respond, Overseer Rezz."

Rezz rubbed her mandible with a pincer in thought. The Zezzarra larval had always been a troublesome one. Always a questioner, that one. Always showing curiosity. Such traits were alien to the Kzz'kzzt. The overseers had decided that Zezzarra's defect would serve well in intelligence. She'd been assigned to investigate the evolution of metanormals on the Kzz'kzzt's next target, and to that end, a female from a locale that had been a hotbed of metanormal activity had been abducted to serve as her host. The overseers had not, however, foreseen how enthusiastically the larval would take her mission. Zezzarra adapted to her human guise a bit too readily, and her reports seemed more concerned with such alien concepts as "prom" and "boyfriend" than with the recent reappearance of metanormal activity on the planet.

And now, she had ceased responding. And at the worst possible time. Within the next few _klizz_ Zezzarra would enter her pupa state... before she could be safely extracted from the host.

Kzz'kzzt medical records had very fewinstances of metamorphoses occurring within a host, but the records they had were not optimistic. During the pupa stage, the host itself would be absorbed, its DNA polluting the metamorphosis. The results of such metamorphoses were known as "abnorms"... malformed, insane creatures that had to be terminated out of mercy.

Such would be Zezzarra's fate if she were not extracted immediately.

"Orders, Overseer?" asked the comm-drone.

"Leave her. She's no longer of any value. When she goes abnorm, she'll be the humans' problem, not ours."

* * *

"Rhonda!"

"Nadine!"

"I HAVE A DATE SATURDAY NIGHT!"

They both took a deep breath, their simultaneous shout taking each other by surprise.

"Wait, you first, Rhonda," Nadine said. "Dish."

"Okay. It's that new guy... his names Ted. Ted... ohmigod, I just realized I don't know his last name!"

"Who cares? What's he like?"

"He's kinda like a young Tom Cruise... you know, BEFORE he went insane. Black hair, great smile, hypnotic eyes..."

"Sounds like a keeper."

"I hope so. We're on for Saturday night at 7:30. But enough... what about you?"

"Well... her name's Ruth, she's a sophomore at Hillwood U., she's got this auburn hair that just kinda flows..."

"Ruth... auburn hair... not Ruth MCDOUGAL?"

"Yeah, that's her last name, why?"

"Don't you remember Ruth? Two years ahead of us, always surrounded by guys... Arnold used to have this huge crush on her for a while back in fourth grade." She took a deep breath. "I can't believe she's gay."

"Oh, yeah, now I remember! But time changes things, and besides... sometimes I still can't believe Eugene's straight."

"Yeah... hey, what time's your date?"

"8:00... we were gonna catch _The Bar-Mitzvah Hustlers. _There's one benefit of dating a college girl; I can get into R-rated movies."

"Maybe we can double? I'll have to make sure Ted isn't some kinda religious-type who objects, but it could be fun."

"Sounds like a plan," agreed Nadine. "You wanna hang out after school and make arrangements?"

"Can't," Rhonda replied. "Mom's making me take Rhia to the zoo. See, there's this 'ladies who lunch' thing at our house, only it's for dinner..."

"Oh," Nadine answered. "She'll like the pandas."

* * *

_Hillwood Zoo_

"Is there a reason we're 'ere and not, oh... at a bank, or a jewelry store or someplace with stuff WORTH nicking?" asked the man in the trenchcoat as they approached the zebra habitat.

"The boss is the one paying us, Oxide," the similarly-dressed woman behind him reminded, "which means HE picks the jobs. So, if the guy wants us to pull some ridiculous caper like this..."

"Right, Alloy. Did we 'ave to bring IT, though?"

"PANDAS!" bellowed the hulking figure behind them both. An oversized coat and fedora concealed nearly all of his features, though they couldn't mask the rancid odor

"He likes the pandas," said Alloy, shrugging.

"Yeah, you just keep yer boyfriend downwind, okay? I bloody well don't need to be reminded of how bad 'e smells."

"He's not my boyfriend! He's not even technically male!"

"Right... like that would matter to you."

"Shut up and do your thing."

"Fine, fine... whatever." Oxide reached toward the lock. An odd bluish mist flowed out of his hand, causing the lock to rust right off. "One down, an 'ell of a lot more to go."

* * *

"And what are those, Rhia?" Rhonda asked.

"Pandas!" shouted the younger Lloyd girl, giggling.

"Yes, pandas. What do you want to see next?"

"Dinos!" the girl demanded.

"Uh... I don't think they have any of those around here. Or anywhere."

"Want to see dinos!" insisted Rhia.

"Sis, there aren't any more dinosaurs. They're all gone."

Rhia began to sniffle _Great... what now? _

"Shhh... it's okay... want some ice cream?"

The girl immediately stopped. _Hooray for bribery!_

"Great. We'll go after we finish, okay?"

"Okay," agreed Rhia.

Turning, they bumped into a large man in an overcoat. Rhonda figured the man was most likely homeless... the stench coming off of him was beyond unbearable. "Smelly!" Rhia proclaimed loudly.

"Um, yeah... remember what I said that one time about not saying everything that you think?"

"No," she innocently answered, then started singing "Smelly, smelly smelly!"

The man in the overcoat turned... if it was indeed a man, Rhonda could now see his face, which was a sickening yellow, and looked as if it was melting. Two eyes, bloodshot and non-matching, were set in his face. His mouth was a simple lipless gap with misshapen teeth set in it at odd angles.

"ME NO SMELLY!" the... whatever bellowed, oozing out of its overcoat. The creature was the same all over, yellow and pus-like. "ME... TALLOW!" it bellowed.

Behind him, two others shed their own overcoats. One was a man with pale skin and hair in mirrored sunglasses, clad in cargo pants, heavy boots, and a sleeveless shirt with an O logo. The other was female, and covered entirely in some sort of metallic outer shell, her fingers tapering into foot-long blades.

"Okay!" the man shouted, an English accent evident in his speech. "I'm Oxide, this is Alloy, and THAT thing is Tallow. As you might be able to tell, we're supervillains. So, unless you fancy spontaneously combusting, getting sliced to ribbons, or, if you're REALLY unlucky, getting smothered by a creature made entirely out of living _fat_, you'll do as we say."

_Terrific, _thought Rhonda. _A supervillain attack, and here I am, surrounded by bystanders. I can't transform, I have Rhia to worry about... how do I handle this?_

"Now," continued the albino, "we'll be letting some of you lot go. If anyone 'ere needs medical care, or any other reasonable excuse, will be allowed to leave."

This was her chance. "Uh excuse me?" she asked, holding up Rhia. "I have a three-year-old child who's easily traumatized. Can I leave?"

"Yeah, go, get outta here," the metal woman answered, waving them on.

"Wanna SEEE..." whined Rhia as the two departed the zoo.

"Shh," replied Rhonda. "I need to get you to safety before I do anything else, but where... Arnold!" Rhonda ran toward the football-headed teen.

"Hey, Rhonda," Arnold said. "Do you know what's going on? The cops won't let anyone near the zoo, and—"

"It's supervillains," Rhonda answered. "Can you please watch Rhia? I need to..." She mimed a third eye opening on her forehead. "You know. I'll make it up to you somehow."

"Uh... sure," he said, accepting the toddler. "Um... good luck."

"Thanks!" Rhonda shouted as she ducked into an alley. A minute later a violet and red streak zipped by.

"No! Wanna see!" Rhia whined again, straining after her sister.

"Yeah, I know..." he replied, "it'll probably be cool... but it'll also be dangerous. Your sister has powers... we don't."

"Want powas," groused the toddler.

"Who knows," Arnold reassured her. "Maybe when you grow up, you'll be just like her."

* * *

Back at the zoo, the three supervillains had finished narrowing down the crowd. Supposedly, it was so that they wouldn't be distracted by any medical difficulties; Alloy alone, however, knew the real reason. The orders were to make sure one person, in particular, escaped. Luckily, the black-haired girl had spoken up so that they could quickly get her out of the way.

Alloy had no idea why the boss had specifically wanted that particular girl to escape. But, then, she and the others weren't being paid to get ideas... they'd been paid to cause a scene at the zoo... and to take on Hillwood's native daughter, Genesis, when she showed up.

"Hey! I know there's a long line to see the pandas, but that's no excuse!"

Speak of the devil. Well, devil/angel hybrid, anyway.

Their target hovered about twenty feet away. She didn't quite match the file photos; her hair was worn much longer now, and held out of eyes with a headband, and her costume had been revised to a red, sleeveless, midriff-baring bodyshirt and ankle-length tights with golden trim, and a pair of specially-designed boots for her clawed, digitrade feet. A stylized G over a globe now adorned her left breast. Still... with violet skin, black wings, a barbed tail, and three eyes, there was no mistaking her for any schmoe off the street.

Alloy smiled, anticipating the fight that was about to begin. This... was going to be fun.

* * *

_Supervillains, _Rhonda thought, a bit amused. _Actual bank-robbing, freeze-ray-packing, tie-you-to-the-railroad-tracks supervillains. This could actually be fun._

"Blue Zero told us you'd be popping up," said the metal-skinned one – her name had been Alloy, she recalled – presumably the leader of this freak show.

"Uh... should I know who that is?" Rhonda asked.

"You'll be meeting him soon enough," Alloy replied, "That is... if there's anything left of you when we're finished." Her blade-like fingers emitted a loud metallic clang as she brandished them. "I claim first blood."

Alloy leapt at Rhonda at inhuman speed, her blades extended. Rhonda waited, then went intangible, allowing Alloy pass right through her and knock herself out on the electric fence surrounding the sloth pit.

At least, that's how it was supposed to work. Instead, Rhonda found out the hard way that the intangibility powers she'd absorbed from Vlad were only temporary, as Alloy's impossibly sharp blades pierced her shoulder. Spikes of agony tore through Rhonda's body, making her nearly black out. With supreme effort, she forced her way back to lucidity and slammed her good fist into Alloy's solar plexus, hard enough to dislodge the blades.

She examined her wounded shoulder. Teal blood was gushing out, and her entire right arm had gone numb. Using the same process she used when generating her costume, Rhonda materialized a bandage and sling. _Thank goodness for that junior year first aid class, she thought. _

She paused to reassess her situation. She could no longer phase, her right arm was completely useless, and she was dealing with an opponent who could actually penetrate her skin. It was time to play things smarter.

Spreading her wings, Rhonda lifted herself higher into the sky. Nothing she had seen suggested that any of her opponents could fly, so, by reaching higher ground – higher air, actually – she could put herself out of range of their attacks. Once at a sufficient altitude, she aimed her good hand at Alloy and let loose a blast of energy, squarely hitting the metal-covered woman.

She might as well have tried to put out a raging forest fire with gasoline. The blast's energy seemed to roll over her skin, making it glow for a moment. She looked up at Rhonda and grinned. And them slowly, lifted into the air.

"I'm more than just a shiny face, kid," the woman said, the grin never leaving her face. "This isn't just a shell... I have veridium bonded to every cell in my body. I don't know if you've ever heard of it; it's an experimental alloy that can absorb and store energy... which means that _I_ can absorb and store energy."

"Good to know. I'll make a note of it," replied Rhonda, accelerating her flight. Despite this, Alloy was catching up to her. _Gotta go back on the offense somehow, _she thought.

_Of course._

Rhonda took control of the air molecules around her and whipped them into a frenzy, then launched them at Alloy. The mini-tornado didn't harm the metal woman, but it did knock her off-balance long enough for Rhonda to reverse direction and, accelerating to her full speed, catch her square in the face with her good fist.

_I don't care how much metal's in her... she HAD to feel that, _Rhonda thought. Sure enough, the supervillain seemed dizzied by the blow. Rhonda followed it up with a kick to the stomach and a tail-whip to the jaw.

"Did that hurt?" she asked? "It's kinda hard to tell."

The metallic woman wobbled a bit, then plummeted as her energy charge wore out.

"I guess it did." Rhonda snarked as she hit the ground. She descended back to the ground. "Okay... any of you other losers want a shot at getting your heinies whupped?"

The albino stepped forward. "Yeah, I think I'd fancy a shot there. Name's Oxide, by the way." His hands took on a glow. "Bloody shame, you're a right nice bird, even with the eye and the tail. Any other day, I'd give you a go. Still... reckon if you give me a chance... I could take your breath away."

Rhonda suddenly felt the air ripped right out of her lungs. She gasped for oxygen as she struggled to hold on to consciousness.

"Or maybe light your world on fire, wot?" Now, her whole body burst into flame. Her demonic nature made her more resistant to flames than most... still, man, did it hurt like hell. At least now she could breathe again, for all the good it did.

"Me next!" bellowed Tallow. "Tallow SMASH!" he screamed as he lunged for the violet fireball."

"Bloody 'ell! You dat or somethin'? yelled Oxide. "You'll go up, you will!"

It was too late. Momentum carried four hundred pounds of fat onto a living frying pan. The result was dramatic... Tallow went up like a forest fire. _Lovely, _thought Rhonda. _I'm gonna be deep-fried unless... _She HAD been getting better with her teleporting lately. Maybe if she aimed for the fountain...oh, the hell with it. Rhonda, laden with what was left of the burning lardpile, sprinted for the fountain, and dived in, dousing herself and dissolving Tallow.

_Right then, let's finish this, _Oxide thought as he advanced on the fountain. _She'll be weak, won't fight back, it'll be simp._

It was then she rose out of the water, like some vengeful goddess. The minor burns she'd suffered were already healing, the shoulder was mended enough to be useful, and she was NOT in a good mood. Of course, the effect was somewhat marred by the extra-clingy wet spandex... still, libido lost out to fear in the end.

"Good," the apparition growled, her fanged teeth gritted. "Now, you're gonna stand right there and you're gonna let the cops take you away."

"Oh, I think not," a voice said, seemingly from nowhere. Near where the unconscious Alloy still lay, a form shimmered into existence. He was clad in a black bodysuit that covered him from head to toe. He wore a utility belt and metallic grey gloves and boots. His mask was completely featureless save a blue oval with a slash through it.

"So... you're..."

"Blue Zero," the mystery man confirmed. "We'll be in touch." With that, he tapped a control on his belt, and he and the two remaining villains vanished.

_Terriffic, _Rhonda thought. _Now I've got a new archnemesis that I know nothing about. _As if life wasn't confusing enough.

Sighing, she ducked behind an abandoned souvenir kiosk and transformed, then went to seek out Arnold, grab Rhia, and go home.

Today had been a looonnnng day.

* * *

_Carter Street, Hillwood_

This was, as some people might call it, "the wrong side of the tracks". Carter Street was the stereotypical slum, filled with junkies, prostitutes, and hoodlums, but mostly with honest folks whose only crime was being poor in a world run by old men and oil companies.

Tonight, though, it was home to a new phenomenon... a swirling vortex that opened up in the middle of the street.

Few people were there to see it... few people would dare risk the streets at this time. Those who did gaped as a familiar winged, tailed silhouette stumbled out.

"Made it... " she breathed, and stumbled.

"Oh, hell," muttered a local. "What's she doin' here? We ain't done nothin'!"

"She don't look so good," said another. She came a little closer. "An' since when is she blue?"

"I have to find her!" the creature said suddenly, pushing herself to her feet and unsteadily lifting herself into the air. With a lurching motion, she launched herself toward the better part of town.

"What the hell was that about?" muttered someone.

_Next: Who is she?_


	10. Now and Again

_Props to Number6 for his help with this chapter._

Chapter 10: Future Tension

_**Now.**_

Dr. Maureen Chopak studied her new patient. She was... unusual, to say the least. The girl seemed to be of the same species as the city's superhero, Genesis. She had the requisite wings, tail, talons, and third eye; however, this was clearly not her. This girl's skin was a pale blue, and she was thin to the point of emaciation. Her wings had shed most of their feathers, her eyes were sunken, her cheeks hollow, her hair dull, limp, and stringy.

The girl (Chopak had dubbed her "Jane Blue") had crashed to earth about five blocks away and passed out. A quick-thinking bystander had called an ambulance, and within minutes the unconscious woman had been rushed to Steiglitz Memorial. During the ride, she'd briefly lapsed to consciousness, muttering incoherently, her tail thrashing around (and nearly amputating a paramedic's hand; it had since been restrained), but had quickly faded out again.

"Vitals?" asked the doctor of her nurse.

"Heartbeat's weak, but steady," he replied. "I think, anyway. It seems to actually be coming from two different locations. Breathing's shallow, but she's doing it on her own."

"Patient seems to be suffering from severe dehydration and malnourishment," noted Chopak as she scribbled on her ledger. "Get her an IV, stat."

"I dunno if that'll work, Doc", the nurse replied. "I've already broken four needles on her trying to get a blood sample."

"Damn," Chopak muttered. "We're going to have to insert a feeding tube orally."

"You think we should try to reach Genesis?" the nurse asked. "She's clearly from the same planet, or wherever. She could be, I dunno, her cousin or sister. Maybe even her mother."

"The thought's crossed my mind," the doctor replied as she worked the tube down the girl's esophagus. "Get someone on staff to look into that." Jane gagged as her throat adjusted to the tube, and again when the glucose solution began to be fed through. Her eyes fluttered open.

"Find... her..." she croaked. She attempted to get up, but her wakened body betrayed her.

"Find who?" asked the doctor. "A family member?"

"Sister..." she gasped. "Warn her..." Spent, Jane lapsed into unconsciousness.

"You heard her," Chopak said. "Find some way to contact Genesis. I'm sure she'd be very interested in knowing that her sister was brought in."

* * *

"Thanks a million, Arnold!" Rhonda effused gratefully as she scooped up her little sister.

"It was nothing, really," Arnold replied. "She's a little angel."

"Yeah... around you. Trust me, sometimes she definitely shows the demonic side of my heritage. I bet a tail's gonna pop out of her butt any day now."

"Really?" asked Rhia, perking up.

"She's just joking," Arnold said.

"Aw..." whined the toddler.

"Seriously, though," Rhonda continued, "I feel like I owe you something."

"Actually, there IS something. You know that afterschool job I have at Redmond Testing Labs?"

"Oh, right... you test video games or something, right?"

"Yeah... anyway, I need a bunch of volunteers to help me test this new multi-user VR program. That'll be on Thursday."

"Testing?" Rhonda asked skeptically. "I haven't really played video games since I was eleven." She sighed. "If I go, who else is going to be there?"

"Well, I've already signed up Gerald, Eugene, Sheena, Helga, and Phoebe. You'd fill out the party. And you're all getting paid, plus lots of free stuff."

Rhonda mused. "Well... father always said 'never turn down free stuff...' I suppose I could give it a try."

"Thanks, Rhon... you're a lifesaver!"

"So they tell me..."

* * *

_**Then.**_

Rhia Lloyd huddled in the wreckage of the bus station. She checked the charge on her pulse rifle, and was relieved that she was still over 90. She'd be able to take out quite a few of the bastards before she ran out of juice. Her armor was still mostly intact, the duralinium alloy plates showing some scarring from enemy fire but still durable. Her helm-filter would need recharging, and soon; the air on Earth was NOT something you wanted to breathe a lot of.

Those who had known her sister would comment on how much alike the two looked. They had much of the same facial features, hair, and the same violet eyes. Their build was similar (though Rhia was a little shorter). Rhia, however, had been a tomboy growing up, unlike her girly-girl sister. Even in her youth, she'd been more than willing to pound the crap out of anyone who got in her face. It was this attitude which had served to keep her alive until now.

She froze, held her breath. There it was, the familiar clicking noise that told her that one of them was nearby. By now, it was second nature. She waited until he was absolutely sure where it was, then took aim... squeezed the trigger...

The Kzzkzz't trooper's cloak shorted out as its head disintegrated, leaving the rest of the body in a twitching mass. Rhia wasted no time; the corpse was too large to collect all of, so she unsheathed her vibroknife and cut it open, harvesting the parts that would be the most nutritious. Her cell would be eating tonight, thanks to her.

* * *

They had come seemingly from nowhere, about a year ago (back when the calendar meant something), and had overrun the planet in a matter of days. Over two billion had been killed in the first wave alone. The rest were herded into labor camps, or simply taken to be "processed". By the time a year had passed, the human race had been winnowed down to a few hundred thousand, most of whom were in the resistance.

The good guys did have a few advantages, thanks to one ray of hope; a brilliant teenage scientist named Nora Wakeman, who'd captured some of the Kzzkzz't's technology and reverse-engineered it into the weaponry and armor that enabled the resistance to fight back against the numerically and technically superior aliens.

But their weaponry only got them so far; slowly but surely, the Kzzkzz't were narrowing the resistance's ranks down. Only about two dozen loosely-organized cells still existed, and it would only be a matter of time before they, too, would be eradicated.

It didn't matter, though. You didn't fight the Kzzkzz't because you had some hope that you'd win. You fought them because there was simply nothing else you could do but take as many of the bastards with you before you could go.

Sometimes, Rhia wondered what had become of her sister. Some said she'd perished in a battle with the leader of the invasion force. Some said she'd been crushed while saving some children from a collapsing building. Some said she'd simply been vaporized early on in the war.

Rhia doubted it. She had the strangest feeling that the instant her sister died, she would know somehow.

* * *

"So," Zezzarra said, rubbing her forelegs together. "How is our little generator today?"

With a supreme effort, Rhonda managed to lift her head. There wasn't much room for movement, wired as she was into the core of the Kzzkzz't's massive engine.

"G-go to h-hell, bitch," the dark angel managed to gasp.

"How ironic that THAT phrase is your choice of response." The Kzzkzz't matriarch skittered over to the core. "You know, my people have no concept of 'irony'. The only reason _I_ do is because of my time inside your friend's skull. It's for that reason that I haven't killed you yet. The thought of having YOU as part of the power source for our engine was just too delicious to pass up.

"Just think, Rhonda... once the engine is finished... which will be very, VERY soon... this entire planet will become a massive dreadnaught of destruction... and you, who dedicated your life to saving innocents, will instead be responsible for slaughtering them by the billions." The insectoid made a high-pitched trilling sound, the equivalent of laughter (though, as the only Kzzkzz't with a sense of humor, it wasn't a particularly recognizable sound). "And don't expect any assistance from the OTHER Dark Angel... she's powering the counter-engine."

Rhonda growled. It was pretty much ALL she could do, since she no longer really had any limbs. Her wings, tail, arms and legs had been replaced by a complex system of cables and tubes that leeched off the supernatural energy at her core. More tubes had been inserted into her chest, belly, throat, and skull; these were being used to keep her alive (if you could call it that) indefinitely so that the machines could continue to drain her.

"I have to admit," continued Zezzarra, "that this really IS all your fault, you know. If it wasn't for YOU, I'd never have called home and let myself be extracted from that human's brain. We'd have never called in the full invasion fleet. My people would never have come to this world."

"Wh-what are you talking about?" rasped Rhonda.

"You don't remember, do you?" the insect replied. "It was fifteen years ago..."

* * *

_**Once.**_

The headaches were getting unbearable. Lila knew that it was getting dangerously close to the time that she would need to be extracted. It would save her life. Yet, it was the last thing she wanted. She had no interest in giving up her existence to become a drone in the war machine.

Yet, this left her on the horns of a dilemma. To be extracted from the human's brain would mean the death of the human... worse, her father would be left all alone.

But to stay within the human's brain would mean possible death for the both of them... or worse, life as one of the hideous "abnorms".

She needed advice. Her friends were far too shallow to ask this kind of question, though. The thought was repulsive... but there truly was only one person she could trust with this kind of story, simply because she herself was well-experienced with the strange and bizarre.

She dialed the number as best as she could remember it, and waited for the ring."

_**Click**_

"Hello, this is Rhonda Wellington Lloyd... who may I ask is calling?"

A deep breath. "Rhonda... this is Lila. It's an emergency and I really need your help."

There was a long uncomfortable pause, and then...

"Go to hell, bitch."

_**Click.

* * *

**_

_**Then.**_

"And in an instant, I knew. You, a so-called 'hero'... you were as petty and selfish as the rest of humanity. I knew the talk of 'human compassion' was meaningless. And I knew I wanted no further part of it.

"I signaled for extraction immediately. They sent in a retrieval team, whisked me off, and ripped me out of that flesh sack I was riding. And when I emerged from my pupa state, I was chosen for the military command.

"Of course, it took a while to get to Earth... we had so many OTHER worlds to annihilate, and you monkey-things were considered a low priority. But I made sure that, eventually, we WOULD come to crush this world. The fact that our scientists came up with the "Deathworld" concept just before we did so was a bonus. And, well... here you are."

"B-bullsht..." muttered Rhonda.

"...I'm sorry?"

"D-do you really expect me to b-believe that? You went back to the Kzzkzz't because you were weak. Because you couldn't take the pain. And at first, you were ashamed of it. But over the years, you deluded yourself into believing that it's all my fault because you just couldn't face the truth. The truth is... you were a coward."

"Shut up!" the drone yelled. "You're lying! You miserable, pathetic..."

"...telepath," responded Rhonda. "You can't lie to me. It's your own self-loathing. You want to destroy Earth because it reminds you just how weak you are."

"SHUT UP!" screamed Zezzarra, her pincers closing around Rhonda's throat.

_Yes, bitch, _Rhonda thought as her lungs were cut off from oxygen._ Do it. Strangle the life out of me. I guarantee you'll love the results. _

In the years before the invasion, Rhonda had spent a lot of time learning to master the intricate secrets of her powers. One of those was designating her own successor. And now, at the end of her life, it was time to pass the torch.

The drones who survived that day reported that a strange being, seemingly made of flaming frost, winged, with a serpentine lower body, the only features on its icy face three eyes of flame, erupted from the body of the prisoner. It swiftly passed through Zezzarra, both incinerating her and freezing her solid within the same instant. Many other drones unfortunate enough to get in its way suffered the same fate.

And still, it continued on, seeking out its host.

* * *

Rhia cursed to herself. Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy... she'd let her guard down and the bugs had taken advantage. She figured she'd still be able to pick off two or three of them, but after that, it would, barring a miracle, be over.

Luckily, the miracle arrived on schedule.

Rhia had just drawn her weapon when she felt every cell in her body burst into flame. Her organs felt as though they were in a blender. She felt herself expand in size, her spine stretching, her limbs lengthening, her muscles swelling, her skin hardening. Her armor tore like tissue paper as her legs twisted, her wings ruptured from her back, her tail sprouted forth from her rear, and her third eye opened.

And she knew. She knew that her sister had gone... and that she had left her the only legacy she could give. Her power.

The bugs went down quickly as anger and helplessness gave way to white-hot fury channeled from her eye and hands. Their lasers, designed to slice humans to ribbons, deflected harmlessly off her invulnerable skin (The Dark Angels and other metahumans had been brought down by specialized "gene cannons" not issued to the rank-and-file) as Rhia returned fire with far more lethal results.

When the last of the Kzzkzz't fell, the new Dark Angel paused to catch her breath, her mind trying to sort out the information that was flooding it. Rhonda, may she rest in peace, had supplied her sister with every bit of knowledge she'd acquired over her years, and that knowledge was now being assimilated. She filed it all away... how to transmute matter, how to teleport, how to manipulate the weather, communicate with animals, generate various forms of energy from across the electromagnetic spectrum, resurrect the recently-dead, open rifts through time and space... it was all there.

There, too, were the final minutes of her sister's life, the agony she'd endured...

...the revelations she'd learned...

This, too, she filed away, It was far too much to deal with. Best now would be to rendezvous with her cell and report. They'd definitely be pleased to learn of the weapon that had just been dumped in their laps.

* * *

The stench assaulted her enhanced nostrils even before she arrived at the Nest, as they called it. A sick feeling gripped Rhia's stomachs as she approached the door and found it ripped from its moorings, the codepad no more than a spaghetti-tangle of wiring.

The sick feeling, not satisfied with gripping, tied Rhia's innards in knots as she crept through the Nest, taking stock, hoping against hope that one, ONE person had escaped. Her hope slowly eroded as she counted the bodies, recognizing each and every one of the members of her cell. The Kzzkzz't hadn't even bothered to destroy the bodies... they'd simply left them where they'd fallen and moved on.

One by one, Rhia turned her gaze on the bodies, whispering their names as her eyebeam reduced them to ash. _Timberly Johanssen. Keith Hershey. Rose MacAran. _Only when the last was gone did she let herself give in, collapsing in the middle of the ruined lair, tears flowing, sobs quietly echoing through the lifeless halls.

* * *

_**Never.**_

"Here," the hooded wraith said, addressing the strange eyeball-headed guests he'd found himself unexpectedly, and unwantingly, addressing this day. "This is where it happens."

"You waste our time, Clockwork," the Observants spoke, dismissively. "Clearly, the human race was doomed to destruction, whether at the hands of the ghost child, or these extraterrestrials. You have merely delayed the inevitable."

"You've learned nothing," the wraith said wearily, his visage shifting from youth to old age and back constantly. "The 'inevitable' is hardly inevitable, when viewed at the right angle." He restarted the display once again. "For instance, in one timeline, the 'proper' one, as you'd call it, Rhiannon Lloyd decides to avenge the deaths of her sister and comrades by mounting a desperation attack on the alien mothership, losing her life in the process. But, suppose someone were to plant a subliminal suggestion in her mind?"

As they watched, the dark angel stood up, purposefully. Drawing on her internal energies, Rhia spread her arms, as if attempting to pull the air apart. Within moments, it became clear... that was exactly what she was doing. The very fabric of reality tore open in front of her, becoming a whirling vortex of space-time energy.

"She is in pain," remarked an Observant.

"Opening a rift to that far back is beyond her powers. It's killing her. She'll survive the trip itself, but she'll be dead within twenty-four hours. And she knows it.

"This, my friends... is why they call them 'heroes'."

* * *

_**And again.**_

Her vital signs were continuing to drop. It was as if whatever kept her alive was being slowly drained away. Even once she'd accepted the feeding tube, precious little had happened. Her deterioration was slowed... but it was continuing.

"Try adding 20 ccs of adrenaline to the mix," advised Dr. Chopak. "Keeping her awake may be the key to getting her out of this spiral."

"Doctor..." the nurse said, "I don't think it'll help. It's like... it's like she's on a battery, and it's running down."

"Do it," repeated Chopak. "We're not giving up until I'm certain there's nothing left we can do."

* * *

Rhia was vaguely aware of the voices around her. They were trying to save her life.

Pointless. She was going to die no matter what they did. The important thing was reaching her sister. She poured everything that was left of her power into her telepathy. Somehow, some way... she needed to reach Rhonda.

The tiny presence in her mind that was once a part of the late Rhonda Lloyd rode the wave of Rhia's telepathic call, seeking its like... somewhere out there...

* * *

"Don't wanna nap," mumbled Rhia as Rhonda laid her down in her crib. "Not tired..."

Rhonda smiled as Rhia almost immediately drifted off. _She's had a long day. _

The door opened again behind her. "Thank goodness" her mother said. "I heard about the mess at the zoo and left as soon as I could."

"It's okay, mom, really," Rhonda protested. "I got her out of danger immediately."

"I'm a mother," reminded Brooke. "Mothers worry."

"Everything turned out FINE," repeated Rhonda. "No—" She was cut off by a sharp pain in her head. "OW!"

"Headache?" asked Brooke.

"No... it was more like someone shouted into my brain."

"I thought you don't have telepathy when you're human," said Brooke, confused.

"I don't. That's why it hurts," Rhonda explained. "Someone needs me. I... I have to go. It's important."

* * *

Chopak mopped the sweat off her brow. It had been hours. They were no closer to saving Jane's life than they had before; in fact, her breathing was only getting more labored.

At 7:52PM, both of Jane's hearts went into cardiac arrest. The medics immediately began defibrillation, but it wasn't having much effect.

At 7:56PM, Jane flatlined. All attempts to revive her were failing.

Chopak sighed. "Call it. 7:57PM. Cause of dea-"

"Dr. Chopak," an orderly said, barging in, "You asked me to—"

"Is she here?" a feminine voice said. A violet-skinned version of the creature in the operating table pushed the orderly aside and barged in herself. Her eyes widened upon seeing the doppelganger lying on the operating table. "Oh my god... it IS you..."

"Miss!" a doctor said. "We're in surgery he-"

"Doctor!" the nurse interrupted. "Her vitals!" Sure enough, Jane's EKG had suddenly sparked back to life. The girl's eyes, impossibly, fluttered open.

"Rhonda..." she croaked weakly, reaching out with a nearly skeletal hand.

"I'm here. I'm here." Genesis ("Rhonda?") reached for the hand.

"Need... to listen..." gasped the dying angel. "Soon... someone will need your help. Whatever you do... don't turn your back on her. Whatever you do."

"I promise."

"Good... I'm done." She smiled, weakly. "It was... nice seeing you again, sis..."

"Aw... hey. You're not gonna die on me, okay?"

"Can't... help it... outta... my hands..." She coughed up something greenish-blue. "'Sides... if I did it right... you won't even remember. Now... go... leave."

"I can't leave you!"

"Kinda... gotta. The call comes... soon." Jane coughed up blood again. "Hey... can a girl... die in peace here? Go... home, sis."

"I won't forget, Rhia. I swear." She hurried off.

"Yeah... actually, you all will." And, exhausted, three golden eyes closed for the last time. And Rhiannon Lloyd faded from existence with a smile on her face.

Dr. Chopak blinked. "That's odd," she said, "I'm pretty sure there was a patient here a moment ago..." She rubbed her head. "But I can't remember anything. Anyone else?" The others shook their head. "We really should stop pulling these double shifts," the nurse said, "They're started to mess with our heads."

* * *

"So... what was the emergency?" asked Brooke.

"Y'know," Rhonda answered, "for the life of me, I can't remember. I just know whatever happened was very, very important."

Brooke sighed. "I thought I was getting used to being the mother of a superhero. But the weirdness never stops, does it?"

"No, mom... it doesn't. But sometimes, the weirdness can be fun."

"Oh, before I forget... a friend of yours called. I said you were out, and that she should call back." The phone rang. "That's probably her."

_Probably Nadine, or maybe Phoebe, _she thought. "I'll take it in my room!" she said, dashing upstairs.

"Hello," she said, snatching up the receiver, "this is Rhonda Wellington Lloyd... who may I ask is calling?"

A deep breath could be heard on the other end. _"Rhonda... this is Lila. It's an emergency and I really need your help."_

_Go to hell, bitch. _That was her first response. Something made her choke it back.

"_Hello?" _Lila asked again, after an uncomfortable pause.

Rhonda sighed. "Okay... talk to me."

* * *

Lila was taken aback. Now that she'd gotten Rhonda's attention, what was she going to tell her? _I'm about to go into a pupa state and, if I'm not extracted from my host body in time I'll mutate into a repulsive abomination, but I don't want to go back to my homeworld because I love Earth too much? Sure, I'm talking to a purple demon who fights three-headed dragons for fun, but that's kind of far-fetched even for her._

"First... look, I'm sorry for the nasty comments and stealing your boyfriend and all of that stuff. I was just... being me."

"_You're really not helping your case, Lila. Get to the point, or I really WILL hang up on you."_

Lila thought quickly. What would work best?

At last she came up with something.

"The reason I'm calling is..." The pain was making it a lot easier for the tears to come. "I'm dying."

_In a way... that's pretty close to the truth. Either way... I won't be the person I was, and that's kind of a death right there._

There was a long, uncomfortable pause, during which Lila was certain Rhonda would hang up on her, believing this to be no more than some Byzantine scheme of hers.

"_Uh," _she began at last, clearly struggling with how to proceed. _"What... what's happening?"_

"The doctors said it's a brain tumor... it's too big to operate." This, again, was close to the truth in its own way. She was a foreign growth in Lila's brain, and her presence was endangering Lila's life. "I... I don't know what to do."

Rhonda took a deep breath. _"Lila... whatever I think of you... and believe me, it's not much... nobody deserves what you're going through. As far as I'm concerned... as of now, we're even on all accounts. Anything I can do to help? My dad knows some of the best brain surgeons in the business."_

"They couldn't help," Lila replied. By now, the tears were truly genuine. "It's too deep inside my brain to get it out. I'm..." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "I'm thinking of... I'm thinking of ending it all." There was no need for her to know that by "ending it all", Lila meant seeking extraction.

There was an audible gasp on the end. _"You did NOT just say that! Lila, you're NOT going to kill yourself! That won't solve anything!" _

"Why wouldn't it? I wouldn't feel pain any more, my daddy wouldn't go broke taking care of me, I'd be out of everyone's misery..."

"_Lila... if you really think suicide's going to end everyone's pain, then you're wrong. It's just going to leave a raw wound that'll never heal."_

"Oh, come off it. Nobody'd really miss me. I've been a complete and utter bitch for years."

"_What about all your friends?"_

"Friends? You mean my rotating cast of vapid hangers-on? Don't make me laugh. Not a single one of my quote-unquote friends cares the slightest bit about me. They're just a bunch of remoras living off the scraps of popularity the big shark leaves behind. The sad thing is... you're more of a friend than they are, and you hate my guts."

"_Well... uh..." _Still reeling from revelation after revelation, Rhonda was clearly struggling for the right words. _"What about your reputation? Do you really want everyone to remember you as the girl who couldn't deal with life and killed herself?"_

"What do I care. Right now, they hate me anyway."

"_Look... I... I honestly don't know what to tell you. I just think that killing yourself would be a waste."_

"Oh? And what would YOU do if you were me?"

"_Uh... well... I think what I'd try to do is somehow make up for anything bad I've done in my life, and when that was done... I guess, what I'd do is just try to enjoy the days I had. Just do every stupid thing I've always wanted to do, but didn't because my inhibitions wouldn't let me. Like... go skydiving, ride that roller coaster I could never get myself to go on, anything. Just... cram in as much fun as you can before you go. So, when it's time, you won't be thinking to yourself, 'Oh, if only I'd had the chance to...' Is any of this making sense, or am I just rambling meaninglessly here? 'Cause I'm still kinda trying to get past the whole 'talking to someone who's gonna die' thing. I'm gonna stop now."_

"No, Rhonda," Lila said. "I think I understand. Thank you. I... I think I'm gonna keep going for now."

"_Oh, thank goodness. Lila, if there's anything... ANYTHING I can do to help more..."_

"There is," Lila said. "For now... don't tell anyone. I don't want people looking at me with pity."

"_Okay, sure," _Rhonda replied.

"I mean it! Nobody! Not even your best friend!"

"_Okay, okay, I promise! It's our secret! Look... I gotta go, okay?" _

"It's all right, Rhonda... I'd bail too, if it was me. I've got a problem dealing with heavy conversations."

"_Sorry... really. Just... try to keep positive, okay? Be like the old Lila."_

"I'll try. 'Ever-so-much'." Lila hung up, drained.

"Well... that was interesting," she muttered to herself.

* * *

On the other end, Rhonda hung up. Her first impulse was to call Nadine. No... she'd made a promise.

She picked up a tissue, dabbed at her eyes. Had she really been crying and not even realized it? The whole conversation had felt surreal, casually discussing mortality with someone she considered her worst enemy...

There were probably song lyrics that perfectly expressed the emotions she was feeling. Damned if she could think of any of them right now, though...

After a quick touch up (we couldn't have anyone knowing she'd been crying, could we?), Rhonda headed back downstairs.

"Who was that, dear?" asked her mother. She'd been probing a lot, lately... probably the result of whatever the latest parenting advice book she'd read had told her.

"It was nothing," lied Rhonda, shrugging. "Someone wanted to know the homework assignment, that's all."

* * *

It was an hour later when the wave of nausea hit Lila.

Her head reeling, she dashed for the bathroom. Once in position, she let loose.

Only, it wasn't vomit coming out of her. It was some strange, sticky, violet gunk that clung to her wherever it touched her, and began to expand.

_No... not now, _thought Lila. _I thought I had more time... please, god, not now, please, I want more time, I didn't even get to say goodbye... _Her stomach let loose another torrent of the purple slime... it continued to spread over her, coating her, hardening.

As the chrysalis around her completed, sealing her away from the world, Lila prayed for the first time in years, to anyone who would hear it.

_Please... let me stay who I am.

* * *

_

_**NEXT: **_

_Our heroes embark on a noble quest to slay the foul beast that threatens the kingdom of NeverQuest! But that roguish varlet Blue Zero seeks to thwart their heroic venture and claim his prize... and what a prize it is! Join us next time for "Here's MUD in your Eye!"_

_Oh, and... Lila hatches._


	11. It's How you Play the Game

Name: Arnold

Class: Knight

Level: 1

Arnold looked over his surroundings. He was on a large, grassy plain, which seemed to go on in all directions. He was clad in some kind of leather armor, and a sword was in his hand.

He'd heard The Game was supposed to be realistic... but he never dreamed it'd be THIS realistic.

Name: Gerald

Class: Monk

Level: 1

"How do you think they're doing this, Arnold?" Gerald asked, cracking his knuckles. "It feels like it's real."

"Brainy said it's a trade secret. But I have a feeling it's more than just ordinary virtual reality." He reached down and ran his fingers through the grass. "There's no way that this should be possible, and yet..."

Name: Rhonda

Class: Thief

Level: 1

"Well, he could have at least done something about the outfits. I mean, honestly... would I wear something like THIS?" Rhonda pulled at her tunic distastefully. "And really... I'm supposed to be a thief? Ridiculous. Lloyds are NOT petty thieves."

Name: Helga

Class: Lancer

Level: 1

"Yeah, we know, Princess, all your family's crimes are white-collar." Helga interjected with a smirk, stroking her spear. "Hey... you're stuck with a lame character and a lame costume, deal with it."

"Oh, really," Rhonda shot back, grinning. "Have you seen what YOU'RE wearing yet?"

Helga looked down at her... well, "costume" was an overstatement. In fact, it barely qualified for the title of "two-piece bathing suit".

"I am gonna KILL Brainy," she muttered to herself.

Name: Phoebe

Class: Dark Mage

Level: 1

"I swear, to observe your behavior, it would be impossible to determine the two of you were close companions," Phoebe said with a grin. She was clad in a dark cloak that somehow served to accentuate rather than hide her figure, and a pointy witchlike hat that, combined with her gothic hair and makeup, gave her a dark, mysterious air.

It was certainly attracting Gerald's attention.

Name: Eugene

Class: Bard

Level: 1

"Hey, c'mon, everybody! This is supposed to be fun!" the motley-clad Eugene said enthusiastically, bringing his instrument out.

"_Ohhhh_

_Seven set out on an adventure great_

_To battle monsters most irate_

_Off they go to seek their glory_

_And so begins our exciting sto-"_

Eugene's ballad was cut off by his stumble over a rock and down a hill. "I'm okay!" he said, getting wobblingly to his feet.

Name: Sheena

Class: White Mage

Level: 1

"Oh, dear," Sheena said. "You've been bruised." The white-robed brunette rushed to attend to her squeeze. "Honestly, you worry me sick sometimes..."

"Wait," Gerald said nervously. "We can get hurt in here? What kind of game is this?"

"Rather a more sophisticated one than we were led to believe, I conjecture," Phoebe replied, unconsciously "adjusting" the glasses she no longer wore (she had switched to contacts shortly after the beginning of her current Goth phase), as her thoughts turned back to their arrival...

---

The group arrived at around four on Thursday. Redmond Labs was a large facility in the tech district, very shiny, chrome, and hi-tech. Everywhere, people in lab coats were milling.

"Hey, Arnold!" a man in his late fifties shouted, waving to them. "I see you brought the gang. Terriffic! The more the merrier, I always say." He began shaking hands. "Nice to meet you! Sonny Redmond, nice to meet you. Hey, wait'll you see what we've got here! You have to meet the genius who came up with it. Young guy, might even be no older than any of you. I know he's around here somewhere.."

"Uh... hi."

Helga's fist immediately snapped up at the sound of the deep, wheezy voice, smacking a tall boy in his late teens in his bespectacled, crew-cut face. Helga winced, upon seeing what she did. "Oh... uh, sorry, you reminded me of someone."

"Guys... meet Brian Bentley. Genius kid, graduated high school at 12 and college at 14. Everybody here calls him 'Brainy'."

"Wait a minute," Helga said... "I DO know you! You're that creepy guy who used to stalk me back in fourth grade! And then, the next year you were gone and no one ever saw you again!"

"Uh... graduated early," Brainy said.

"This way," Sonny said, leading everyone to a room with a number of chairs were waiting, each equipped with a helmet that would fit over the user's head. "Well, I've got some million-dollar phone calls to make... Brainy'll get everyone set up. I'll see you all after the test!" And so, he hurried out, leaving them alone with their ex-classmate.

"So, uh, Brainy..." Arnold began, "I guess you've done pretty good..."

"Uhhh... yeah..." mumbled the engineer, making last-minute adjustments. "OK, uh... sit down... put on the helmets..."

"This is gonna give me helmet hair, isn't it," groused Rhonda as she and the others complied.

"Good... uh... now, here goes." He entered a sequence on the control panel, and, one by one, the seven sparkled and vanished.

Removing a cell phone from his pocket and dialing a secret number, he said, "Uhhh... she's in."

---

In a warehouse across town, Oxide lounged in front of the tube. "Bossman's locked 'imself in again," he said unnecessarily.

"I really don't care, as long as he keeps paying us," Alloy responded, as she ran a miniature polisher over her metallic body.

"Well, I mean, it's kind of rude, innit?" the Cockney replied. "I mean, here we are, his henchmen—"

"HenchPEOPLE." Alloy corrected.

"—what-bloody-EVER. The point is... he should be sharing his plans with us! We're 'is bloody minions, ain't we? We should be in on stuff!"

"You're WAY too needy," muttered his metallic companion.

Within his office, Blue Zero was in communication.

"_Uhhhh... she's in."_ his contact informed. _"They've all been converted to avatars and inserted in the scenario."_

"Perfect." Zero replied. "You left me the back door, then?"

"_Uh... yeah. You won't hurt Helga, right?"_

"I'm a man of my word, Brainy. Why... you're not thinking of reneging on our deal, are you?"

"_Uh, no..."_

"The deal was, I give you my technology – technology unavailable to anyone else on Earth, by the way – to create your VR system, and you give me access to the device so that I can make things a little interesting for a certain someone. I kept my end. I assume you're keeping yours."

"_Uh... yeah."_

"Good. Then... let the games begin."

---

The players spent the first minute or so getting their bearings. It was very strange... the world was fake, yet everything seemed perfectly real. These weren't their bodies, but they felt like they were. Whoever had designed this world was brilliant.

"This is boring," Helga complained. "When does something ha-"

All of a sudden, the world went out of focus. A moment later, they were back on the grassy plain... only now, about a dozen scaly green goblins faced them.

"Wonderful," Rhonda muttered. "Are we supposed to fight these things?" Just as she said that, one of the goblins leapt at her, slashing with its knife. "Ow!" she shouted, clutching the area where the cut hat been made. The number "1" floated up from the impact point, which was otherwise unmarred. "What the heck was THAT?" she asked.

"I... think we're supposed to fight these things," Arnold said, swinging his sword at the closest. When it struck home, the number "6" floated upward, and the goblin vanished.

"At least they're easy," Helga commented, dispatching another with her spear.

"Speak for yourself!" Rhonda whined, flailing with her knife. "I don't know how to fight these things!" By sheer luck, her knife struck one and vaporized it. "Hey... I got one!" she chirped.

"Stand back," Phoebe announced. She briefly chanted, then gestured with her staff. A fireball hit one of the goblins, vaporizing it instantly. She immediately began another chant.

In this manner, all the goblins were soon gone.

_Gained 24 exp points_

_Gained 24 Gold_

"What does THAT mean?" Rhonda asked.

"That happens after every fight," Sheena said. "Experience points help you reach higher levels, and gold can be spent at stores in towns."

"The first town of the game should be nearby," added Phoebe. "There's usually one near the start of the game. We'll likely be in a few more fights before we reach it, so we should have some money to spend."

"Shopping, huh?" remarked Helga. "Now there's something Rhonda's good for."

"Ha ha. At least I'm wearing something."

Once again, Eugene began strumming his lute. _"And so the goblins the heroes vanquished/And uh... something something... _What rhymes with vanquished?"

Arnold sighed. This was very likely to be a long, long game.

---

They reached the first town after about half a dozen more of the fights, encountering Angry Bees, Bats, Blue Slimes, Rat Men, and other odd foes. By now, they'd all risen to Level 2 and had amassed 600 gold coins.

The "town" was little more than a few buildings... an inn, a pub, a forge, and a store. After refreshing themselves with a trip to the inn (it was instantaneous, yet all felt like they'd had a good night's sleep after), they hit the stores.

"Kind of a limited list of merchandise," Rhonda muttered as she looked over the few items up for sale at the forge... a longsword, a dagger, a bow and arrow, and pretty much the same armor everyone was already wearing.

"The good stuff is usually in dungeons," Gerald said. "The first town always has junk,"

"You're a gamer, Gerald?" Phoebe asked, surprised that the "cool kid" would be interested.

"Yeah. Actually, I'm a level-15 Paladin in 'MegaQuest.'"

"Oh, really? I'm a Level-23 Drow Rune Mage!"

They briefly stared at each other.

"Menariel?" asked Gerald.

"Sir Justin?" asked Phoebe.

"Wow, I mean, I can't believe I was 'dating' someone I already knew!"

"You 'date' in a video game?" Rhonda asked skeptically.

"Well, not 'date' exactly, though Gerald's character did accompany my own in several game events, and, we, uh, won 'best couple' at the ball. Then a black dragon attacked and we had to slay it. But I digress... We should be purchasing things."

"That's right," Helga said. "Ignore the bombshell that's just been dropped." She grinned, poking Phoebe with an elbow. "If you think we're gonna let this drop, you don't know us very well."

"Fine, fine," Phoebe muttered, "be immature. Let's see... we'll get a longsword for Arnold, a bow for Rhonda... don't need much else... we can spend the rest on potions and stuff at the store."

"I'd rather just get on with the quest," Arnold said.

"Fine... let's hit the pub, then," sighed Phoebe.

---

"-sigh- Times are tough."

"Uh, yeah, you said that," Arnold groaned. He'd been trying to get something out of the patrons, but most of them just said the same thing over and over again.

"Did we try that guy in the corner yet?" asked Gerald.

"I don't think so..." Arnold said. "Worth a shot." They walked over.

"They say strange things are happening in the castle at the top of the mountain," the guy said as soon as they got near.

"Gosh, you think that might be a hint?" Helga asked.

"It just might be," agreed Rhonda. "And such a subtle one, too."

"Oh, I hate the obvious," came a voice from nowhere. "Let's make things more interesting, shall we?"

A mass of swirling pixels formed out of the nothingness, resolving into a man in ornate finery and cloak, with a featureless black mask embroidered with a blue slashed circle.

"Hello, Genesis," he said to Rhonda.

Rhonda's virtual eyes shifted involuntarily. "Genesis? I'm not Genesis. She's like, an alien or something," she lied.

"It's all right, Rhonda Lloyd," the newcomer said. "We're all friends here."

"Who is this throw pillow?" asked Helga, brandishing her spear. "And why does it feel like he doesn't belong here?"

"Because he doesn't," Rhonda said. "This guy was behind that attack on the zoo a couple of days ago. He called himself Blue Zero."

"You remember. I'm honored, dear one." He floated downward to stroke Rhonda's cheek. Rhonda grabbed his wrist.

"Don't even try it, freak," she hissed.

"Feisty, too. I like that." He pulled away. "Worth a shot, I suppose. Anyway... the challenge! I see there are seven of you today..." He snapped his fingers, and Arnold, Gerald, and Eugene vanished. "And now there aren't."

"What the hell did you just do? Bring them back NOW!" Helga demanded, lunging at the villain with her spear, only to pass harmlessly through him.

"Oh, you'll get them back... if you win. Now, that castle on the mountain idea, I liked that. I think I'll be there. Of course. I'll be stocking it with the worst monsters the program has to offer. But... let's make things a little more fair.

The four girls began to feel tingly...

Name: Rhonda

Class: Ninja

Level: 20

Name: Helga

Class: Dragon Knight

Level: 20

Name: Phoebe

Class: Warlock

Level: 20

Name: Sheena

Class: Shaman

Level: 20

"Is it me," asked Sheena, "or did we just get a wardrobe change?"

"It's you," Helga deadpanned. "The fact that I finally have a decent suit of armor is just your imagination." Helga was, indeed, now clad in a full suit of armor with a dragon motif, and carrying an ornate spear and shield. Phoebe was in an embroidered, fire-red version of her robes, with matching hat, jeweled accessories, and a black staff topped with a ruby. Sheena wore golden robes and a jeweled tiara and bracelets, and wielded a golden rod with an eagle motif. As for Rhonda herself, she was clad entirely in a light black jumpsuit and cowl, which revealed only her eyes. She held dual katanas.

"I've raised all of you to the level where you would have earned your class upgrades, and given you the best equipment available... well, second best. You'll need to defeat the four Master Dragons within the castle for those. Good luck!" With that, he vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Well... at least he's sporting," volunteered Sheena.

"Yeah, he'll be 'sporting' a sucking chest wound when I'm done with him," growled Helga. "No one. Takes. My Arnold."

---

"You'll never get away with this!" Arnold yelled as he squirmed in the energy field that held him and the other boys aloft.

"Really, Arnold, I know you're some kind of junior Dudley Doo-Right, but please lose the clichés."

"C'mon., what's the point of all this?" Gerald asked. "Revenge? Nobody'd even heard of you before this week! What are you trying to accomplish here?"

"Accomplish? Who said I want to accomplish anything? Mayhem is its own reward!" The masked man cackled, clearly having just said something he considered hilarious. "When I'm done today... I'll be the number one thing on Rhonda's mind for sure!"

"You're kidding me," Arnold said. "That's what this is all about? Attention?"

"And what's wrong with that?" asked Blue Zero. "Isn't that what we all really want? To be noticed? To be remembered? To be loved?"

"Supervillains aren't loved!" Gerald noted.

_Wait a minute,_ Arnold thought. _Referring to her by her first name... all this talk about being on her mind..._

_It's like... this is some kind of warped love note. _

Arnold was about to bring this up when Eugene broke into song again.

"_Ohhh... deep in the dungeon the hero did hang-"_

"We're in a tower," Arnold reminded him.

"_Ohhh... high in the tower the hero did hang-" _He was silenced as a gag instantly popped into place around his mouth.

"Thank you," Gerald said gratefully.

"Well... it's not like I'm CRUEL..."

---

"Well..." commented Rhonda as she surveyed the labrynthine interiors of the castle. "This'll be fun, she said sarcastically."

"It's like M. C. Escher threw up," commented Helga.

"I suggest we should begin," Phoebe instructed. "Rhonda, you take the lead."

"Excuse me?" the taller of the raven-haired girls said. "You're the hardcore gamer, I'm a novice wearing black pajamas!"

"Nevertheless, it is your alter-ego that has drawn the attention of our erstwhile bete noir, thus, I believe you stand the best chance of dealing with him. In addition... as a physical fighters, you and Helga are best suited for the lead positions, while myself and Sheena are best suited for support."

Rhonda sighed. "Okay, fine... let's go. We have boyfriends to rescue... well, at least the rest of you do."

---

The first four floors were uneventful... that is, unless you count the many annoying monsters that dogged their steps. There were Acid Slugs, Rabid Trolls, Doom Flowers, Master Mages, Killer Masques, and other grandiosely named monsters that were really just clones of earlier monsters, only in different colors and lots meaner.

For their troubles, they came way with three Elixirs (very handy for restoring magic and health points), half a dozen Potions (which could cure bad conditions like being poisoned), and a couple of Shuriken for Rhonda. "What exactly do I do with these?" she asked. "As far as I can tell, these swords work just fine."

"Do not let the size fool you," Phoebe said. "They're quite powerful... moreso than your current weapons. You'd be well advised to save them for boss fights."

"If you say so," Rhonda replied. "This game makes less sense the more I play it."

The fifth floor held one doozy of a block-moving puzzle... the narrow hallways made solving it a chore; oddly enough, leaving the room made everything reset. Chalk up yet one more oddity that would strengthen Rhonda's resolve to never, ever do this again.

The sixth floor was virtually empty, except for a stone containing...

"About time!" said Helga, grabbing the weapon.

_Acquired Dragon Spear_

"It seems too easy," Sheena commented. "Didn't Blue Zero say something about-"

"WHO DARES!" An enormous red dragon shimmered into existence, blocking the stairway to the next level. Ominous music began playing in the background.

"Boss fight," Phoebe informed. "A red dragon, which likely means..."

The dragon exhaled a storm of blazing fireballs that struck everyone in the party, knocking a full third of everyone's health off.

"...let me guess, fire?" supplied Helga sarcastically

"NOW do I use the Shuriken?" asked Rhonda.

"No!" Phoebe advised. "This is only the first dragon and therefore, logically, the weakest! Simply use your Water Jutsu... I shall meanwhile cast Strong Ice." She held her staff out and began chanting."

"My what?" asked Rhonda, before realizing that somehow, she knew. Quickly, she began making hand signs. With her final gesture, she conjured a tidal wave out of nothingness, which struck the dragon head on before vanishing, leaving not even a puddle on the ground. Only the four-digit number floating in front of the beast testified to the damage she'd just done. "Wow," she gasped.

Then the dragon hit her. It felt like she'd smacked into a brick wall... only the brick wall had smacked into HER. With claws.

Dazed, she dragged herself to her feet. She checked her health. She was down to... 24? That couldn't be right. Her upper limit was supposed to be around 2200. "Uh... I can use some healing here!"

"Already on it!" Sheena answered, and soon the tell-tale blue sparkly effect of her Heal spell raised her back into the quadruple digits.

"That was close," Rhonda said. "Keep casting, just in case."

It would prove unnecessary, as Phoebe's Ice spell struck home, finishing off the beast. The party took a few moments to catch their breath and refresh their energy.

"Are they all going to be like this?" Helga asked.

"No. They'll likely be worse," admitted Phoebe.

---

Phoebe's words proved to be prophetic. The seventh floor was home to a Blue Dragon, which had a full-party-targeting lightning attack even more devastating than the Red Dragon's had been, as well as a single-target lightning attack that actually struck Phoebe dead (temporarily, of course... Sheena was quick with her "Resurrect" spell). After a grueling battle, the brown-haired Shaman gladly claimed her Holy Rod.

The eighth-floor played host to the still-worse White Dragon, whose element was ice. It was nearly ten minutes before the group advanced, one Demon Staff richer.

"This is really, REALLY not fun," groaned Rhonda, as she rubbed her sore shoulder. "If that one was the second-worst, I shudder to imagine what the worst is."

"Arnold's counting on us," Helga stated simply. "We keep going." Phoebe and Sheena cleared their throats. "Oh, and the others," she hastily added. "Besides... YOUR boyfriend's waiting for us too, Princess."

"What? That freak is in NO way my boyfriend!" Rhonda growled, getting to her feet. "C'mon... let's get this whole stupid thing over with!"

---

The twin katanas were just sitting there, waiting.

"Careful, Rhonda," warned Phoebe "We know taking the weapons is what triggers the boss battle."

"Well, obviously," the black-clad girl said. "But we're gonna have to fight it anyway, right?"

_Acquired Masamune_

_Acquired Murasame_

The chamber began to rumble. "Get ready!" Phoebe said. "Remember our strategy!"

"We had a strategy?" asked Helga.

"Yeah... not dying," muttered Sheena.

"Wow," admitted Helga. "That was cynical and sarcastic. There's hope for you yet."

Then, all hell broke loose.

The Black Dragon was twice the size of the others, and seemed to be carved out of black diamond. With a mighty growl, its mouth opened wide, revealing an enormous charge of energy building up.

"Okay!" Phoebe commanded. "Helga, you'll need to use your Jump move... the blast should miss! Rhonda... NOW is the time to use those shuriken! Sheena, forget any healing spells for now and just cast "Mirror" on as many of us as you can! And I'll cast..." she posed with her staff, "BLAST!"

Complying, Rhonda hurled the first shuriken. The attack was rewarded with a holographic "9999" floating in front of the dragon. "You're kidding me" she muttered. "No wonder I was supposed to save these." She threw the other one. Meanwhile, Phoebe's Blast spell finished charging. She let it loose, again doing the maximum possible damage.

"Okay! That's 30,000 down already"

Of course, by then, the dragon was ready to let loose his own blast.

"Sorry," Sheena said apologetically. "I only managed to do it twice."

"Who didn't y-" Phoebe was cut off as the blast hit.

The invisible shields that Sheena had placed in front of Rhonda and Phoebe reflected the blast directly back at the dragon. Once again, the beast was hit for 9999 damage.

Sheena, however wasn't so lucky.

"Oh... crap." Rhonda muttered upon seeing her prone form. "Can... uh, anyone resurrect her?"

Phoebe shook her head. "She's the only one who has that spell."

"Crap," reiterated Rhonda.

"All is not lost," Phoebe reassured. "It's already down 40,000—"

With a blood-curdling yell, Helga finally hit home.

"—correction, 50,000. We have this creature on the proverbial ropes. If we're lucky, it only has that one—"

The beast lashed out with its massive tail, striking the gothic teen squarely in the stomach. Unfortunately, Mirror only deflected magical attacks... Phoebe took the full brunt, and fell.

"Phoebe!" yelled Helga in alarm. Giving up any pretense to strategic thinking, Helga struck out with her spear, scoring a good 3500. Rhonda followed up with both swords for 4000.

"Why won't this stupid thing DIE?" Helga complained.

"Oh, no," muttered Rhonda. "It's building another of those blasts... Do that Jump thing you di-"

The blast hit again. Rhonda braced for the end, but the Mirror spell apparently was still in effect and deflected the damage again.

Unfortunately, Helga had no such protection. When the smoke cleared, Rhonda was alone.

"Okay, that's IT, you gruesome son of a submariner..." she muttered... "you're going DOWN." _I hope, _she added.

The dragon was building up again. There was no depending on whether her Mirror would stand up a third time. If this last strike didn't hit, she was done for.

She struck.

And the world imploded.

---

"Well done, Genesis... well done. Of course, I tampered with that battle so that you were guaranteed to be the only one left to strike the last blow... but why quibble?"

Blue Zero, or at least his computer avatar, floated mid-room, no doubt smirking beneath that full-face mask. Behind him, Helga, Sheena, and Phoebe had joined their significant others suspended in stasis fields.

"Okay, jerk, I won your stupid game. Let my friends go."

"Oh, no. You can't leave now. We're just getting started! First, let's get you into something more... comfortable."

The same tingly effect that had earlier transformed her from thief to ninja took hold again. But this time, the effects were far different. Rather than merely altering her clothing and weapons, the effect reshaped her virtual flesh itself. Within moments, she was in her demonic form. But, instead of her uniform...

"...is this... a PROM DRESS?" Sure enough, the violet-skinned Dark Angel found herself in a sheer red and black gown, with a corsage of green chrysanthemums to match her eyes. She looked up at Blue Zero, who was now ridiculously clad in his mask, his cape, and a powder-blue tux.

"Would you like to dance?" he said.

Rhonda stared at her opponent incredulously. "What the hell is going on here? Was this all your sick idea of a DATE?"

"Well... yeah!" admitted Blue Zero. "We went out, we dressed up, we did something fun..."

"Yeah, well, you made a BIG mistake giving me back my powers!" Rhonda leapt into the air at the villain, only to fall clumsily to the floor.

"Did I," Zero said sardonically. "I'm not an idiot. You'll find your wings useless, your tail and talons blunted, your muscles weak, your heightened senses dulled, your third eye blinded." He was right. She didn't feel any of her abilities. "I just thought, since I'm dressed for the occasion, you should be too." He floated downward and held his hand out. "Well, shall we?"

"Yeah... sorry, but I don't date psycho supervillains," Rhonda said, turning away.

"But we were made for each other! You know we were!"

"Yeah, tell it to my tail, 'cause my head ain't listening."

"FINE!" Blue Zero yelled. "Then you can just STAY here for the rest of your li—"

His threat was cut off as a figure in dark armor materialized behind him, shoving a sword through his torso. With a scream, he shattered into his component pixels.

With Blue Zero gone, the stasis fields holding Rhonda's friends shut off, dropping them to the ground in a heap.

"What just happened?" asked Arnold, dazed.

"I'm as confused as you are," Rhonda admitted. "Hey... mystery guy. Who are you?"

The armored figure removed his helmet.

"Uh... hi," he wheezed.

---

"Damn," muttered Blue Zero, back in his real body, back in his lair. "I almost had her." He sighed. "Oh, well... we shall meet again, Genesis."

He removed his mask.

"After all," Ted said, "we have a date this Saturday night."

---

The assembled Junior class of Dino Spumoni Memorial High stretched their stiff bodies, finally out of the virtual world.

"Well... that's an experience I don't wanna repeat," muttered Rhonda.

"Actually, our experience today notwithstanding, participation in an online multiplayer role-playing universe can be quite enjoyable," suggested Phoebe. "Perhaps one of these days, you can join Gerald and myself..."

"Not now, not ever. There is no way that I am joining some stupid online role-playing game."

"You should know better than to say that," Arnold reminded, grinning.

"So, uh... what'd you think?" Brainy asked, materializing behind Helga.

---

"She's still got it," he said, later, rubbing his jaw appreciatively.

---

Larry Sawyer's new job was in sales, which meant he often had to travel, leaving Lila alone for days at a time. Sometimes, he worried whether this was damaging Lila, but until he could find a better job, they were both stuck with this situation.

He was finally back in town after several days in Omaha trying to convince a local chain of department stores that they should order a lot more vacuum cleaners than they could expect to sell. Now, he was drained, and all he wanted to do was say hello to his little girl before collapsing into bed.

Knocking on the door to her bedroom, he asked, "Lila? Are you in there?" Receiving no answer, he opened the door and poked his head in.

He nearly had a heart attack when he saw the enormous, dripping chrysalis suspended from the ceiling. Sure, there'd always been an insect problem in Hillwood, but not THIS bad.

He'd barely had time to ponder the fact that this thing even existed when it slowly began to crack open. Violet glop spilled out, followed by the strangest creature he'd ever seen. It was basically humanlike in structure, and obviously female. Its torso was encased in emerald chitin. The rest of its visible skin was a paler shade of green. It had four arms, each ending in a dark-green-furred forearm and a three-taloned hand. Its legs were also covered with fur, its feet having two toes in the front and an opposable thumb growing out of the heel. It had a long, segmented tail much like a scorpion's, and two pairs of glistening, diaphanous wings much like a wasp's. Its face was almost too human, apart from its color, fanged teeth, compound eyes, antennae, and lack of ears. Its head was crowned by a mane of flaming red hair.

The thing saw him. It came closer. He tried to back off, but his legs wouldn't move.

The thing stopped. It whispered one word.

"Daddy...?"

Larry froze.

"Lila...?"

_To be continued..._


	12. The Girl with Kaleidoscope Eyes

Chapter 12: The Girl with Kaleidoscope Eyes

She was twelve stories up when the shockwave hit.

It shattered every window in the vicinity, and almost knocked Rhonda out of the sky. Acting mostly on instinct, she spread her wings out to "ride" the wave. Once regaining her equilibrium (though her ears were still ringing), she started dealing with the huge amount of falling glass.

Telekinesis worked to an extent. Holding thousands of little objects was a lot harder than one larger object. Still, by working fast, she was able to hold it long enough to release a blast that vaporized most of it. There were some shards missed, but there was no way she'd've been able to handle all of it.

Still reeling, she turned her attention to figuring out where the shockwave had come from. Unfortunately, her superhearing was kinda on the fritz, and her balance had been so upset that she couldn't get any bearing on where it could have come from, only that it was in the area.

Then she smelled it. Something… wrong. Something alien.

_Guess I have to literally "follow my nose".

* * *

_

Lila's head swam as she tried to make sense of the situation.

There had been sleep… and then waking, in that tiny, cramped chamber full of goo. There had been fear. The overwhelming need to get out. There'd been her fathers voice, distant. And one moment of panic, when she pushed outward and shattered her prison.

Then light, harsh. And the overwhelming feeling that something was wrong with her body. Maybe it was the odd lightness, or the way her feet gripped the floor, or the sense that she had more limbs than she should.

She blinked. Her vision was wrong, too, now that it had cleared. Like she was looking through kaleidoscopes. She focused, trying to make sense of it. Slowly, she got her bearings, the room, the furniture, Daddy.

She took a tentative step forward on her new feet. Then another.

"Daddy..?" she whispered, her voice not sounding quite right to her ears. Which, for some reason, were on her forehead now.

"Lila…?" echoed her father. Slowly, he reached out to her. She did the same, with her left hand.

Both of them.

The revelation startled Lila. She tensed, triggering something in the upper-left palm. A steady stream of sticky purple glop similar to the stuff that had once formed her cocoon spewed out of a tiny opening. The stream caught her father in its path and glued him to the door.

Horrified, Lila let out a scream. This, by the way, was why all those windows shattered.

_This is ever-so-nightmarish, _she thought. _It's like something out of Kafka. Only I'm living it, and it's my body that's doing this, and my hands shoot glue and there's too many of them and my voice breaks windows and for all I know my tail sprays acid and ohmigod I have a tail and I'm a monster and what am I going to do it's a dream it's a nightmare why won't I wake up? _

Frantically, she ran to her dad, who had passed out from the shock, and worked to pry him loose from his quick-hardening restraint.

"Okay, you! Hold it right there!"

Lila froze at the new voice. This was just getting crazier every moment.

Slowly she turned. And things became even more surreal.

It was Rhonda… but not normal Rhonda, no, it was Rhonda the way she was when she was ten, all purple and wingy. But she couldn't do that anymore… right?

"Okay… hands where I can see 'em, all of th- wait…" The violet girl squinted, recognizing. "Lila?" Her jaw dropped. "What in… what are… what happened…"

"I don't know… I'm just… ever so scared… it's all so wrong and strange…" Lila reached out. "Please… help me…"

"You said it was a tumor…." Rhonda said, confused. "But this…"

"…tumor?" Lila asked, equally confused. "I… I'm oh-so-certain I've never mentioned a tumor…" What was Rhonda talking about? And… Rhonda HAD been an early bloomer, but even so, she looked way too developed for a twelve-year-old.

_Come to think of it, _she thought, looking down at her own transformed body, _so do I. _

"You really don't remember? It was just a couple of days ago."

"No… I'm certain I don't remember anything! In fact…" she looked around her room, "I don't remember these posters, or this furniture, or these photos…"

"What DO you remember?" Rhonda asked.

"Well… there was that Driveshaft concert we all went to a few weeks ago. Remember? Harold was doing that air guitar all through 'You All Everybody'… that was such a wonderful day!"

Rhonda looked concerned. "Lila… that was when we were twelve. We're almost seventeen now."

Lila felt dizzy. "Then… that means…"

"You've lost nearly five years of your life, Lila."

* * *

"It's… all so weird..." Lila said, shaking her head. The two had relocated to the kitchen after prying Lila's dad off the wall, and were now seated at the table, Rhonda holding one of Lila's hands. "All this time… just gone… and now I'm… some kind of thing."

"You're not a 'thing', Lila. Trust me. I promise… I'll help with whatever you need."

"I NEED my life back. I NEED to be human again."

"If there's any way it can be done, I swear it. Are you sure you don't remember anything?"

"Actually… it's, kind of starting to come back, little bits of it." Lila took a deep breath. "I… how was I acting?"

Rhonda sighed. "Remember how I used to be when I was nine?"

"That bad, huh."

"You acted like something out of _Heathers _or _Jawbreaker _or… well, you probably never got to see _Mean Girls_, but you get the idea. You were the alpha girl, captain of the cheerleaders, with your two satellite lackeys, stealing boyfriends, insulting people…" Rhonda scowled at the memory. "I nearly killed you when you made fun of Nadine for being gay."

"Nadine's GAY?" Lila asked, eyes wide.

"So not the time for this," sighed Rhonda. "The point is, you were a very unpleasant person..." She noticed how uncomfortable Lila looked. "I'm really not helping, am I."

"No, you are…" assured Lila. "Some of this is sparking memories. Like the time I convinced Molly Johnson that the geometry final was on the wrong day… or the time Britney and Tamika and I snuck into that frat party…" She buried her head in her hands. "Great… all the memories I have are of being a jerk."

"Well…. Maybe there's a way we can get all of those memories back." Rhonda offered. "Fill in the gaps… find out why you acted that way, and why you suddenly changed and lost your memory. I could use my telepathic powers to try and nudge open any mental blocks you have."

"Could you? That'd be ever-so-nice! So, uh… do we have to move for this, or…"

"Um, well… I haven't really done a major telepathic scan before," the dark angel admitted to the insectoid mutant, "but I guess it'd help if I put my hands on your forehead or something, "she said, doing so. Lila's skin was oddly cold to the touch, her blood temperature lower than Rhonda's own. "Okay, now… close your eyes, I guess…

As both did, the flush of contact was felt. Rhonda felt Lila's eagerness to please, her overwhelming need to be liked, her worries that she was always expected to be perfect, her….

…deep in the back…

"There's… there's something else in there. " Rhonda said as she tried to probe further.

"Something else?"

"Another intelligence. It's deep down, blocked off… but it's there."

"Do you mean… I have a split personality?"

"Maybe. I guess. I'm no psychiatrist, but if you do have another personality, it could have been running things for the last five years. But it must've been some kind of major trauma that caused it."

"I… don't remember anything that could have done that. Can you try to link with it?"

"I don't know. If I go any deeper, I could really damage your mind."

"Please… I have to know! It's ever –so-frightening to think I might be crazy, on top of being a mutant!"

"If you're sure… okay." Gently, Rhonda pushed deeper.

* * *

Down below, a bystander looked up to see what he thought was a flock of pigeons.

He wasn't even close.

The swarm of Kzzkzz't retrieval drones resembled a cross between wasps and scorpions; each was roughly eight inches long, with two pairs each of diaphanous wings and jointed, hairy rear legs, forelimbs with large pincers, and segmented tails. There were three dozen of them, all homing in on the location of Zezzarra, the wayward parasite drone.

"Target found," the lead said. "Initiate retrieval."

* * *

_Almost there…_

Rhonda forged deeper into Lila's mind.

_Almost there…_

"Rhonda!"

She was shaken violently out of her trance by the verdant redhead. "What?" she shouted, a little more harshly than she should have.

"That," Lila said, turning Rhonda's head for her.

"Oh," she said, regarding the newcomers. "That's… kind of a lot of really big bugs."

They just hung there, buzzing oddly, clicking, and smelling funny.

"They… they're asking for a Zezzarra," stammered Lila.

"They're talking?" asked Rhonda. "And… you understand them? And… what's a Zezzarra?"

"Me," Lila said, shivering. "I'm Zezzarra. They… they want to terminate me."

"Well… tell them they can't!"

"I… don't think they're going to take no for an answer."

"Well, tough," Rhonda said, cracking her knuckles. "It's the only one they're getting."

"But… why do they even want to do it?" She stopped, making clicking noises. "They… they say I was implanted in a human body to infiltrate this planet."

"Implanted?" asked Rhonda. "That other intelligence…"

"But… they say bonding with the human damaged me… I'm a 'malform' and must be put out of my misery. They apologize in the name of the Queen…"

The insects began to swarm.

"Nobody's getting terminated," Rhonda said, charging up energy for battle.

"I… don't know… maybe I should let them. I… I don't know if I can live this way, Rhonda."

"Don't be an idiot, Lila. There's worse things than being a little freaky."

"Well, it's not like I know how to f-" A bunch of the drones cut her off by swarming all over her… reflexively, she grabbed one with each hand and smashed them together, crushing them.

"You were saying?" Rhonda asked as she blasted one with her eyebeam, her tail skewering a second.

"It's… just reflex," Lila stammered as sharp spikes popped out of her lower pair of palms, skewering two more drones. "I don't even know what I'm doing."

"Well, keep doing it!"

* * *

_Elsewhere…_

"Careful with that sample," Dr. Ling, the head researcher on duty said. "It's still in the testing stages."

"Doesn't look very impressive," Dr. Barkin said, his expression reflecting his boredom.

"Not impressive?" responded Dr. Ling incredulously. "That, right there, is the first artificially-created life-form ever."

"Really," mused Dr. Barkin. "Shouldn't we call the patent office, then?"

"Not just yet," Dr. Ling advised. "So far, I've only managed to create samples that lived a few minutes. Once I figure out a way for it to sustain life, though, imagine the possibilities. We could create ready-to-use replacement organs, infinite food supplies… maybe we could even help my -"

"Forget that. If we sell this to the right people, we could make millions," Dr. Barkin.

"That's… not really important to me," Ling replied self-consciously.

_Then maybe you wouldn't mind if I kept all the wealth and notoriety for myself, _Dr. Barkin thought, as he resolved to do a little experimenting of his own later that night.

* * *

"And that's the last of them!" Rhonda declared victoriously as the last of the drones dropped to the ground.

"My… that was… ever-so-invigorating," Lila said, sagging against a wall. "I'm certain I can see why you enjoy this sort of thing. Though, I don't think I'm all that cut out for it."

"What? You're a natural, Lila. What about when you got one with that acid-stream from your tail?"

"I'm oh-so-sure that was just luck," Lila said, though a hint of pride crept into her tone of voice.

"Well… wanna try the mind probe again?" offered Rhonda.

"I… don't think I do." Lila said. "I don't know exactly what's inside me, but I'm certain I don't like it. Not if it did THIS to me."

"I think we're gonna have to face it sooner or later," Rhonda said. "Especially with the whole 'infiltrating the planet' thing."

"I know, I'm just… not so ready now." She sighed deeply. "I'd better get used to staring at the walls in my room all day. There's no way I'm ever leaving it again. Not like this."

"No way," the violet girl assured her. "I'm sure there's a way you can have a life. You could be a super-hero, right? The public accepts me, and I'm no less "exotic" than you are."

"At least YOU can have a secret identity," Lila said, sulkily. "I'm a monstrosity all the time."

"You're NOT a- oh, this getting us nowhere. What you need is someplace where you can come to grips with this. I know someplace that can help."

"The only thing I want help with is being me again," complained Lila.

"If anyplace can, this is it," Rhonda reassured.

* * *

Rhonda was incorrect.

The drone that had fallen to the ground was NOT the last of them.

One had escaped, and was making its way back to threshold point.

The microscopic fissure in space/time, if it had been anywhere in the Earth's atmosphere, would have eventually destroyed the planet. Instead, it simply did its job of returning the lone creature to the Kzz'kzz't mothership.

"I must see the Queen, urgently," the drone clicked to the current threshold tech. "I bear information of a most important nature."

The drone was quickly borne to the Queen's throne room. The Queen awaited, looking displeased. To put it mildly. "You have returned without the Zezzarra host. Why have you failed in this most simple of tasks?"

"Your majesty," the drone replied. "It was too late. The host had already fused with Zezzara."

"Then, you terminated the ensuing malform and eliminated all traces of the carcass, correct?"

"No, my Queen. It, ah… it was my squadron that was terminated. At the hands of the malform."

"Impossible," the Queen said. "Malforms are incapable even of basic thought, much less defeating a trained squad of retrieval drones."

"This malform was different, Majesty," the drone said. "She seemed in full possession of her intelligence, and could speak both in our own language and that of the humans. Furthermore, she possessed strength and agility beyond those of any drone, and amplified versions of even the most basic Kzzkzz't abilities."

"You mean to tell me," the Queen asked, unbelieving, "that the fusion of Kzzkzz't and Human creates a malform superior to both species?"

"That is exactly what I'm saying, my liege," the drone replied.

The Queen cocked her head for a moment. "You realize there is only one way to determine whether you speak the truth, yes?"

The froze in fear. "My Q-queen!" it stammered (well, however creatures that speak by clicking stammer), "S-surely that w-will not be n-necessary…" Already, the queen's retainers were dragging the unfortunate drones forward. "I… o-only desire to s-serve you with l-loyalty…"

"And so you shall," the Queen said, as her jaws snapped off the drone's head. As the retainers dragged away the drone's twitching thorax, the Queen's mouth-parts cut open the insect's head, her tongue snatching up the precious brain within and gulping it down. Once it had been properly digested, she would have access to all of the drone's memories.

The images from the drone's mind formed now. _So he was telling the truth, _she mused. _Ah, well. _

Upon her first glimpse of the thing Zezzara had become, she was struck with disbelief. _So… big, _she marveled. _So strong, and fast, and graceful, and… big._

_We are already feared across the galaxy. With warriors such as these, the Kzzkzz't would be unstoppable._

She had thought to simply eradicate the life of this world. Now… it would be the stepping-stone to ultimate power.

* * *

"You okay in there?" Rhonda asked the blanket-enshrouded figure she carried.

"I'm just a bit chilly," Lila replied. The two swiftly rode the stratosphere toward their destination. "It was ever-so-nice of you to fly me over, Rhonda. I'm certain my own wings aren't strong enough to carry me such a long distance."

"No problem. Like I said… I've been in this same situation. Going down…"

The two descended towards the inside of the gate-enclosed grounds. At the door to the main complex, two doctors already waited.

"Rhonda!" Dr. Chapel said, smiling. "It's been years! Look at you… you're so…you're practically grown up!"

Rhonda blushed indigo. "Thanks…" she replied. "I'm sorry for the short notice, but I was kinda hoping you'd be able to help my friend like you helped me."

"This is your friend, then?" Dr. Martinez asked, nodding towards the bundle.

Rhonda nodded, letting Lila down. "It's okay, Lila. They're here to help."

Slowly, Lila loosened the blanket, still keeping it draped around her, but letting in fall away from her face. "Hi," she whispered nervously.

"Well, hello," Dr. Chapel said warmly. "C'mon… why don't we take a look around? You know… you don't have to lug that heavy thing around. There's no reason to be ashamed of what you are, not here."

"If it's all the same to you… I'd prefer to keep it for now," Lila said.

* * *

"And, here we have the living quarters," Dr. Chapel said. "We'll arrange to bring all your things over, so you'll be able to redecorate your room to suit you."

"Thank you. I'm ever-so-certain that I'll appreciate it. But, uh… what'll you do about helping me?"

"We'll be running tests on you during the beginning, to learn as much about your mutation as we can," Dr. Martinez said. "Afterwards, we'll be working on a way to figure out how to reverse it."

"We've got about three dozen dead alien bugs that should help on that front," Rhonda noted. "I'll get them shipped to you first thing tomorrow."

"Thanks, that should be VERY helpful," Martinez said gratefully.

"Now, if you'll come with me," beckoned Chapel, "there's something I want to show you. You see, Rhonda may have been the first special child we took in, but she wasn't the last." She led them to a room with a large glass window. "This is our rec room. And these are some of our guests."

The teens looked in through the window. There were about a dozen children playing together in the room. They looked to be between the ages of four and nine, and most of them looked normal. A couple, however, were clearly different; one was covered in white fur and had pointed ears, hooflike feet, a tail, a small pair of wings, and a tiny horn sticking out from her head; the other, a boy, had scaly green skin, webbed fingers, and solid black eyes. The two played together, isolated from the others, who seemed to want nothing to do with them.

"All of these children have manifested mutant abilities… telekinesis, telepathy, pyrokinesis, etcetera. Rachel Ling and Sean Marcus are extreme cases of full physical mutation."

"Why won't the others go near them?" asked Lila.

"It's the rule of the schoolyard. Kids ostracize those that are different. And for their part, Rachel and Sean are pretty self-conscious."

"That's just not right," Lila said. Rhonda noticed that the insectoid teen had let the blanket hang more loosely… now, she let it drop entirely, revealing her new form to the two doctors. "Someone should talk to them."

The assembled watched as Lila entered the rec room. The children's heads swiveled towards the newcomer, who walked directly over to Rachel and Sean and spoke quietly to them for a while. She then scooped each up in a pair of her arms and walked over to where the other children, who had been watching the conversation apprehensively, sat. Afterwards, she released her two charges, and smiled as the other kids asked them to play. Satisfied, she leaned back and watched.

"Good," Dr. Chapel said. "She's bonded with the children."

Dr. Martinez nodded. "This'll be good for everyone. Sean and Rachel have someone to look out for them, the other children have a new role model, and Lila herself now has something to focus on besides what happened to her."

Rhonda entered the rec room. "You okay?" she asked Lila.

"I'm more okay than I was," responded the emerald-skinned girl.

"Guess that's good enough for now," Rhonda assented. "I'm still going to need to get to that other personality inside you, you know."

"One adjustment at a time, Rhonda," said Lila. "One adjustment at a time."

* * *

It was midnight when Dr. Barkin returned to the lab. Entering his code into the vault, he removed the tiny sample of protoplasm Dr, Ling had created. _Not my problem if Ling's a do-gooder, _he thought. _Maybe she doesn't care about money, but I do._

He uncovered the sample and began examining it with the microscope. _Nothing new here, _he thought to himself. As he removed the dish from the microscope, he wondered just what it would take to make some headway.

Then fate intervened. A few random dust motes irritated just the right part of his sinus cavity, causing him to sneeze right into the Petri dish.

_Damn! One stupid sneeze and the sample's ru- _His thought was interrupted when the bits of mucus seemed to be absorbed directly into the sample. The sample changed color and began to pulsate.

"Well, damn," muttered Barkin. He got out his recorder. "12:03 AM. The sample seems to have consumed a small amount of organic material…mucus, to be precise. Hypothesis: absorbing the DNA of bacteria within the mucus has given the sample the ability to sustain life. Suggest testing hypothesis by exposing sample to other forms of organic material."

* * *

"12:10 AM. Sample exposed to flatworm DNA. Sample now shows response to stimuli such as light and temperature change."

"12:17 AM. Sample has assimilated fungal matter. Mass increased. Sample continues to retain previous properties."

"12:35 AM. Sample has absorbed material from multiple forms of life. I will now expose it to a small amount of lichen tissue."

"12:57 AM. Sample has steadily increased in mass since absorbing the lichen DNA. I have had to transfer it to a larger container twice already. "

"1:08 AM. The sample seems to be becoming more aggressive since being exposed to the sample of rat tissue. It… it's escaping the container! It's… ARRRRGGGHHH!!!"

"That's… where the recording ends," Detective Denny Hooker said, clicking the recorder off. "Dr. Ling, please… tell me what you found."

The scientist, clearly nervous, tried to compose herself. "Like I said before… when I came in this morning, the door to the lab was unlocked. When I came inside, the sample container was empty, and all that was left of Dr. Barkin was… that."

She indicated the floor. There, the clothing that Dr. Barkin had been wearing lay. The white polyester lab coat, black slacks, glasses, and nametag that identified who they'd all belonged to where the only thing left of the scientist.

"My guess is that whatever he was working on destroyed him," she continued.

"Do you… think it's still out there?" the police officer asked.

"I'm almost certain of it," Ling replied, clearly worried.

* * *

The blob of viscous red-streaked black slime oozed out of the Institute's ventilation system. Consuming Dr. Barkin had given it a rudimentary intelligence. Now, it altered its color to blend in with the grass, avoiding the detection of prying eyes.

It oozed down the hill and toward the gate, It became aware of a dull pain in its nascent nervous system. It was hungry. True, it was always hungry, but it realized now that failing to consume new organic matter was adversely affecting it. It attemped to consume the grass around it, and found that it could not.

Desperate, the strange creature attempted to absorb other organisms… worms, flowers, insects. No success. Consuming a human had mutated it to the point where it could no longer feed on lesser organisms. And without the ability to consume, it could already feel itself beginning to wither. In the creature's desperate quest to find something, anything that could sustain it, it came across a single black feather.

_Yes, _it thought as it consumed the bit of detritus.

It thought.

_I think, _it thought.

…_therefore..._

_I am._

_I AM._

_I must continue to be._

The newly sentient creature oozed through the gate, seeking more of the material that had given it the gift of awareness. Instead, it encountered a curious stray cat.

_Life… complex. This will do, _it thought.

The black slime flowed over the small feline, engulfing it completely. In doing so, it touched the creature's mind. New sensations overwhelmed it. Sight, hearing, small… it experienced all these for the first time.

_This… is amazing._

The cat (for now, the slime was in full control of the cat), looked around. Its fur was no longer visible, sealed under a flawlessly smooth sheath of black with red accents. Its eyes glowed red as well, and its claws and teeth were larger and sharper.

_This is far better than simply absorbing life. I can merge with these life forms, controlling them, experiencing what they do. _

_And yet… I can feel this body cannot sustain the merger indefinitely. It deteriorates even now._

It eyed a passing dog.

_No matter. There are more bodies where this came from._

_TO BE CONTINUED_

_Next: Parasites on a Dashboard Light_


End file.
